After Time Adrift Among Open Stars
by Endymion Blue
Summary: Collab with Sarge1995. Daniel White finds himself in a strange, yet freakishly familiar place. What will happen to him and who will he meet along the way? TalixOC. Rated M to be safe.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Bear with me, as this is the first fic I've written, and is also the first collab project I've done. This looks like it doesn't have anything to do with Mass Effect right now, but trust me, we'll get there. Just gotta upload the chapters as they get completed.**

**And the Disclaimer: We don't own Mass Effect or any of its characters. That belongs to BioWare. However, Daniel is ours! :P  
**

"Your mission is to cut off the escape route of the terrorist leadership while main force Army troops close in from all other directions. Gentlemen, if we pull this off, we have a chance to significantly reduce, if not eliminate, insurgency in Afghanistan. I don't need to tell you how much is riding on this operation. Good luck."

'Good luck my ass,' First Lieutenant Daniel White thought as another salvo of bullets chipped away at the small boulder providing him cover. He leaned around the side of the boulder, attempting to find the location of the MG nest pinning him and his men down in the small canyon.

He spotted it at the same time it spotted him. About five hundred meters away, nestled on top of the cliff ahead and to the left of his squad was what appeared to be an obsolete Russian DShK 38, a relic from the Second World War.

Age really didn't matter at the moment though, because the turreted machine gun still worked just fine, forcing White to fall back into cover.

"Steele, get over here!" he shouted to his radioman, who was hiding in a nearby ditch. The man looked up at Daniel.

"I can't go anywhere until this fire lightens up!" Corporal Jason Steele shouted back as the MG targeted his position.

"Dammit!" White swore angrily. "Concentrate fire on that MG nest!" he ordered the rest of his team. Lance Corporal Alexander Patterson was first, letting his M249 SAW light machine gun spit its deadly rounds into the hillside around the MG nest. PFC Alex Sanders was next with his M4A1.

The machine gun nest fell silent as its occupants dove into cover, giving Steele a chance to sprint to his commander. His shoulders slammed into the boulder, and he turned to face White.

"What now, sir?" he asked, sweat running down his face.

"Get command on the line. Tell them we're pinned down, and see if they can't get us a gunship or something to support," White said, leaning out of cover again to assess the situation. He was rewarded with another burst of fire, this time splintering off pieces of rock which went flying and managed to slice his hand.

"Ah, that sonofabitch!" he roared.

"LT, command's giving us a negative, telling us we need to maintain cover!" White felt more contempt at HQ than ever these days. It seemed it only existed to make his mission impossible.

"What cover, dammit? The whole base knows we're here! Tell command that if we don't get some support, or some reinforcements damn soon, they can kiss their operation goodbye!" White readied his own ACR, otherwise known as the Bushmaster Adaptive Combat Rifle. He personally preferred the acronym, ACR. His weapon was equipped with a decent 6x scope, an underslung 40mm grenade launcher, and an extended magazine, bringing the total number of rounds in the clip from 30 to 40.

"Squad, suppressing fire!" he bellowed, stepping out of cover and raising the scope to his eye. He made sure to bring the 7.62x39mm rounds with him on this mission; he would need the extra range and stopping power. The other men were firing at the small sandbagged position, but it was too far away for them to effectively hit it.

White was considered one of the best shots in his battalion: the 1st Battalion of the U.S. Army's 75th Ranger Regiment. To him, it seemed like time stood still. He could always see the target clearly, and put a bullet exactly where he wanted it. This time was no different. Through the scope, he could clearly see the insurgent frantically swinging the mounted gun in his direction.

White calmly squeezed the trigger of his rifle, and felt the recoil as the round left the barrel with a crack! He watched as the round entered the middle of the man's forehead, making a nice, neat hole before exiting out the back in a spray of blood, skull, and brains. Daniel felt no remorse at taking the man's life. This man had been attempting to kill his friends, his family, and had known the consequences if he failed.

"Alright, let's move!" he shouted over his shoulder. "We've still got to close in before…" his voice faded as he heard the unmistakable whuppa-whuppa-whuppa of a chopper approaching from farther up the canyon, where it widened out into a flatland that served as the terrorists' main base.

"Get down!" he screamed as he fell into a small bush nearby, his desert camouflage blending in perfectly with the stubborn foliage. He knew that sound. It belonged to the distinctive Russian Mi-24 gunship, otherwise known as the Hind. The hind was an older Russian chopper, but as with the machine gun, age wasn't an issue. There was a reason they were nicknamed 'flying tanks.'

As the chopper rose up from a bend in the dry river, White could only watch in horror as the attack chopper let loose with both 3.8 inch rockets and a 30-mm autocannon. The rockets impacted directly behind him, and he could hear a scream. The autocannon peppered the area, but eh couldn't tell if they had hit anyone.

The chopper flew directly overhead before landing about one hundred yards behind them, offloading about a dozen troops as it did so.

"Status!" White yelled, looking for his squad mates.

"Steele, sounding off!"

"Patterson, sounding off!"

The only thing Daniel heard after that was silence.

"Sanders? Sanders!" he got to his feet and turned around. "Oh Jesus…" Nearly sick, White just shook his head slowly, looking at what had once been a human being. Now all that was left was a crater and a smoking boot.

"He had a wife and kids man, dammit!" Patterson hissed. Suddenly, the sound of gunfire began echoing off the canyon walls.

"Steele, tell command we need reinforcements now! We're in danger of being overrun, and we've got a man down! Patterson, put those bastards out of their misery!" White began barking orders, when something caught his eye. Enemy militia were advancing on them from the opposite direction, effectively trapping the Ranger team in the dry riverbed.

"HQ, this is Viper! I repeat, HQ this is Viper! We are pinned down and surrounded, and we have a man down! We need an extraction, over!" Steele was screaming at HQ over the field radio, Meanwhile, Patterson was covering the southern approach while White covered the northern one.

A volley of bullets suddenly started landing at Daniel's feet, and he looked up and to his right to see a group of militia firing on them from the cliffs, taking away their advantage of cover.

"We need to move, now!" he shouted, grabbing Steele by the arm. Firing one-handed, he managed to hit an insurgent once, twice, right in the chest. The man fell face first into the sand, dead as the rocks around him. White managed to pull the radioman into the nearby creek bed, between two boulders, giving a defendable position from all but one side.

"Make room!" he heard Patterson shout as the African-American man leapt headfirst down into the riverbed. White took one more look around him and knew what he had to do.

"Steele! Broken Arrow!" he roared to the nearby soldier.

"Are you sure—"

"Yes goddammit, I'm sure! Now if you don't call that in, we are going to die! Do you understand me?" he shouted at the man. Broken Arrow was a code not to be used lightly. It meant that a ground squad was about to be overrun, and that all nearby aircraft were to divert and provide assistance.

Steele looked at him numbly. "I…yes sir." He turned around and began yelling into the handset with earnest.

"Broken Arrow! I repeat, Broken Arrow!" White turned to Patterson as Steele continued bitching at HQ.

"We've got to hold out till reinforcements arrive," he said quietly.

"I'm game. Let's do this," was his team mate's reply.

**30 minutes later…**

All White could see were blurs. He could recall the enemy firing at him, returning fire back at them, but not much else.

"Lieutenant White! Are you okay?" a voice broke through the haze. The weary soldier looked up from his prone position, face covered in dirt and sweat. The soldier standing in front of him was a regular army grunt, carrying the standard issue M16A2.

"I…I…" White mumbled incoherently, before one thought came to his mind.

"Where's Patterson? Steele?" he asked. The Army soldier looked at him, confused.

"Sir? Corporals Patterson and Steele are dead, sir…you radioed it in yourself." All White could do was look at him blankly.

"What…?" He looked around him slowly. Expended cartridges, empty magazines, and blood lay strewn around his makeshift fortification. No, it couldn't be…but it was. Steele was leaning back against the boulder, his face a bloody mess. Turning his head to the right, he saw Patterson, missing an arm and a leg, with blood pooled all around him.

"No…no, no, no, no…" was all he could whisper. He felt the soldier drag him to his feet and haul him towards a UH-60 helicopter that was waiting nearby. White's mind, however, was focused on something else entirely. Those two men, his comrades…brothers, had been alive, dammit, he knew it! As the soldier sat him down in a seat on the combat transport, his mind couldn't take on the information, and White nearly passed out from a combination of exhaustion, dehydration, and emotional drainage. The men loaded up the two dead bodies, and then chopper took off, with White staring into space, still muttering.

"No…no…no…"


	2. Chapter 1: Discovery

**Disclaimer: We don't own Mass Effect or anything pertaining to it. That belongs to Bioware. However, dibs on Daniel!  
**

**Present day…**

"No!" Daniel White sat up in bed, his face and body soaked in sweat. He took a minute to gather his senses and take in his surroundings. He was in his sparsely-furnished apartment, and had to calm himself down as he realized he had bad dream. 'More like a nightmare every night,' he thought wryly to himself.

"Well, no sense sitting around in bed, I probably won't be able to sleep again for quite some time so let's go do something," he announced to his empty abode. As he went into his routine of crunches, pushes, pull-ups that he had kept up since Basic Training, his mind began to wander, going back down Memory Lane to revisit how he got into this situation in the first place.

**One week ago…**

Lieutenant White found himself sitting outside of his psychiatrist's office, awaiting the results of his recent psych evaluation following his last mission. He still couldn't get over the fact that Steele and Patterson died when he was so sure they had survived alongside him. However, he had to face the reality of his situation as his fallen squad mates were buried with 21-gun salutes and folded flags to hand their bereaved families.

To add insult to injury, he later discovered that his friends died for naught.

**Two hours earlier…**

"Lieutenant White, you are hereby ordered never to speak of this mission to take out the terrorist leadership." Commander Mark Jackson, White's commanding officer, said following the debriefing of the last mission.

"What will my squad's families be told about how my men died?" Daniel asked, completely confused as to this turn of events. He wanted to at least make sure that his squad, even in death, were treated with the respect and honor they deserved.

"All they will know is that they were killed in action. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Commander, why?" White got a sick feeling in his stomach. He didn't like where this conversation was going.

"Like I said, Lieutenant, the mission failed. We can't let the public know we botched this operation, so it never happened. Orders from the top brass are to make sure word of this mission never gets out."

"Sir, permission to speak freely."

"Denied," was the only response Daniel got.

"Why didn't HQ send reinforcements when we requested backup? What happened to the air support when we called in a Broken Arrow?" White asked, even though this would look bad and could be taken as insubordination. All the frustration he felt at the lack of response from HQ came surging back in an instant.

"White, HQ had their reasons. You know that."

"With all due respect, _sir_, if we had even just one extra squad to reinforce our position, perhaps this little mission that didn't happen wouldn't have been such an abysmal failure! If we'd gotten the Broken Arrow support like we asked, we could've kept the insurgents from creating an escape route and just _maybe_ Steele and Patterson would still be alive!" Daniel felt his blood pressure rising as his CO, a man he respected more than most officers, sat there and took it.

"Lieutenant, regain control of your emotions. We had to do what was necessary. Your squad was chosen because you were the best of the best. You blew it," Jackson's face was starting to get red as White's words sunk home. However, he had to make sure White wouldn't go blabbing off about the fiasco in the desert.

"Bullshit! We might have been the best, but didn't anyone consider that just one squad might not have been enough to hold off the escape of an entire fucking terrorist base? How the hell did all the brass up there make such a stupid mistake? One that cost my entire squad their lives?"

"That's enough out of you. You're obviously too worked up about this to continue your duties. I'm ordering you to get a psych evaluation and you are hereby relieved of your active duty status until we believe you fit for duty again."

Daniel could only stare as Jackson efficiently stripped him of his active duty status. Apparently the brass was extremely serious about having him silenced. 'Dammit, I'm going to have to just keep my mouth shut and keep myself from getting into even more trouble.'

**Back at the psych office…**

"Lieutenant White? Please, come this way," the psychiatrist asked, trying to be as friendly as possible.

Daniel followed the man into his office, not sure what was going to happen.

"Now, Lieutenant, I understand you're here because your superior officers believed you to be mentally unfit for duty. However, I find no such issues based on your evaluation. Unfortunately, I also understand that your active duty status has been lifted, and I don't have the authority to countermand that. I'm sorry, but that's all I can do at this point in time."

"Thank you, sir. At least you were upfront with me about everything, instead of beating around the bush like the rest of the higher-ups. So what would you recommend I do now that I'm suspended from duty indefinitely?"

"To be quite frank, I'd suggest you go and find some way to relax. Get your mind off work and the military in general. I'm sure you'll be put back on active duty after a while."

"I'll keep that advice in mind. I'll figure something out."

**Later that day…**

"God, could this day get any worse?" White mused as he drove back to his apartment. As he pulled into his apartment complex, he thought, 'Well, at least I didn't get discharged and I've still got a home to return to.'

However, once he got to his apartment, he felt something was amiss. Opening the door, his jaw dropped. The apartment was all but barren!

"What…the fuck?" Daniel walked into the living room, only to find a note on the floor.

_Daniel,_

_I hope you haven't gone off and gotten yourself killed. I can't stand this anymore, the long time in between brief phone calls where all you can say is that you're okay and that you'll be home soon. But you're never home. I'm not going to sit around anymore, I end up worrying myself to sleep every night, wondering if the morning will bring a soldier in dress uniform carrying a folded American flag under one arm. I can't do this anymore. I'm leaving, and I'm taking all of my stuff with me._

_Goodbye._

"Carrie..." was all Daniel could say as he picked up the note. His girlfriend of three years finally gave up on him. It was always tough for anyone to be dating a soldier, but normally the significant other left Stateside would end up bailing out after only a year tops. Carrie stood by his side for two and a half, but something made her want to get out of Dodge. He didn't know why, and now he probably never would.

'Maybe she found someone else to comfort her while I was gone,' He pondered, looking around to complete his damage report and see what he still had left.

"Dammit…most of my stuff is gone too!" Daniel slumped against a wall, slowly sliding down to the floor. Carrie had indeed taken most of his things. All he had left in his apartment was his HDTV, Xbox 360, bed, clothes, and his stuff in the bathroom. Everything else was gone. No more sofa, chairs, nightstand, lamps, all were taken.

Seeing that his prized laptop was still there, though, he sighed deeply. "At least Carrie had the sense not to take that with her. I don't know what I would've done if she'd taken that from me too…" He fired it up and set the music to randomly shuffle. "Road of the Gypsy" by Adrenalin came on, helping to put him in a calmer frame of mind. He had invested too much of his time and money into that laptop and its music collection to see it drop off the radar just like the rest of the things that were taken.

Wandering over into the kitchen, he discovered that Carrie had helped herself to all of his food supplies. "Well fuck-a-doodle-doo. Looks like I'm gonna have to go shopping around today."

Hopping back in his car, Daniel left his apartment behind to do a much needed supply run. While he was out, he went ahead and bought a few games for his Xbox, as it would be one of the few sources of entertainment he'd have over the coming days until he got put back on active duty.

'It's funny how this place feels so alien, despite the fact that it's mine, so to speak,' He chuckled to himself as he headed back. Packing food away into the fridge and stocking the cupboard with all sorts of supplies, he finally got around to settling down and opening up one of the games he just purchased.

"Hmm…Mass Effect. I remember Sanders raved about that game and how his kids were addicted to that game. Time to see what the hype was all about." Firing up the game for the first time, White was floored with the choice he had in the Custom Shepard creation process.

"Hah. Sole Survivor. That's fitting. Let's make him a Colonist too. Facial features…I'm gonna try to replicate myself." A little while later, Jason Shepard was born.

White sat back in awe as he watched the back story open up and introduced him into the world of Mass Effect. He was thrilled by the alien concepts behind Nihlus. The Turian really looked awesome. "Now if only I could somehow meet one of those Turians…that'd be awesome," he murmured as he saw Nihlus get off at his drop point.

The game's controls were pretty easy to understand, and Daniel made sure to explore a little bit to make sure he knew how to control Shepard before he got into combat. Even if it was just in a virtual world, he was still looking forward to killing some baddies.

"Man, I can't wait to unleash hell with these tech powers. Never did get to be an engineer, but if this is any indicator, I'm gonna consider a role change when I get back." He moved his squad forward till he reached the fateful cutscene involving Corporal Jenkins's death.

"GODDAMMIT! I don't want to have to see another squad member die! I've had enough shit to deal with, I don't need another one!" Daniel roared, almost throwing his controller away, before hearing what Lt. Kaiden Alenko had to say about Jenkins's demise. Muttering to himself, White continued on, glad that he could take some measure of revenge for his squad member's death. A little while later, the geth recon drones in the area were nothing more than pieces of scrap strewn across the hillside. After the fighting was over, however, Daniel saved his game and shut the Xbox off.

"I think I've had enough for now. I'm sure I'll get back to it again soon."

He walked over to his laptop to browse the internet a little bit, looking up information on the game.

**Present day…**

Daniel finished his workout routine and went back to his Xbox. Firing up his laptop, he set his music to go full-bore again, this time Queen's "One Vision" came up first. Then came the Xbox. Daniel set about continuing his adventures through the game as Commander Jason Shepard. He had come a long way since he had not much else to do with his time. Already having beaten the first game, he was just about to embark upon Tali's loyalty mission. "Alright, baby, let's see if we can't prevent your exile…"


	3. Chapter 2: Premonitions

**So Disclaimer again: Bioware owns Mass Effect and its characters. Ya know the drill. But we got Daniel!**

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I regret to inform you that our flight plan has changed. As most of you already know, this transport offered nonstop service to Omega, with continuing service to the Citadel after a brief layover. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, we can no longer continue on to the Citadel. For those of you who were intending to join us once again after the layover, we will be more than happy to refund you or put your credit towards booking another flight to your intended destination. Once again, on behalf of this flight crew, we extend our sincerest apologies that we cannot complete the final leg of this journey. If you ever need to book transport throughout the cosmos, please do consider using Galactic Starlines for your future travels. Thank you."

The cabin of the transport was filled with groans and general sounds of annoyance, disappointment, and anger. Some of the passengers immediately fired up their omnitools to tell their respective parties at the Citadel that their flight got cancelled and that they will be trying to get out of Omega as soon as possible.

"Mom? Hey, it's Bridgette…No, I'm fine. Well, sort of…yes, the ship made it fine to Omega…no, that's why I'm calling. Apparently this flight will be unable to make it to the Citadel so I'm calling to let you know that I'm going to try to find a way off this rock to get to you…Yeah, send my love to Dad and Sis. Love you too." Conversations like this could be heard all over the cabin. Some groups of fellow passengers banded together in order to try to make the most of their current situation and figure out what to do next. Few beings, if any, noticed the lone Quarian who was sitting all by herself, away from the rest of the passengers. She didn't want to be so far away from everyone else, but nobody was willing to sit any closer than two seats away from her, on account of the reputation that preceded members of her race.

Only after the passengers left did the Quarian girl debark as well. Unlike everyone else who was on the transport, she only had a small rucksack to carry all of her belongings in. Baggage claim was an alien concept to her, so she bypassed those lines as she headed into the Transportation Center's lobby. Checking the list of departing flights to see if any were Citadel-bound, she was disappointed to discover that no flights were currently outbound in that direction. She decided that she'd try the private sector, but first she wanted to explore this hive of scum and villainy known as Omega.

After wandering around for a while, she found herself in front of a salvage emporium. There didn't seem to be anyone to talk to, so she turned away and was about to leave when her auditory sensors picked up the telltale sounds of an arc-welder being engaged. Curiosity getting the better of her, she peered over the counter to discover a fellow Quarian working on a piece of machinery. Contrary to popular belief, not all Quarians were gifted with technical expertise. The male bent over in front of her was just such a case.

"Umm, excuse me? Hello?" she hesitantly called out when the other Quarian had stopped his welding for a minute. He immediately got up and turned around to face her.

"Wow. I don't see many fellow Quarians around here. How can I help you?" He asked, as he holstered the arc-welder in his belt.

"I couldn't help but notice that you were welding something, and it seems that you could use some help," she offered, unsure if he would actually accept or not.

"I can't hide that from someone such as you. You've probably already figured out I'm not the best with tech. I just found these T6-FBA power couplings, but I don't know how to repair them effectively," he idly rubbed one hand along the back of his helmet, obviously embarrassed by his admission.

"That's okay. I'd be happy to take a look at those couplings. I'm Tali, by the way," she said as she walked around the counter to offer her fellow Quarian her assistance.

"Thanks for your help. I'm Kenn. Keelah, they never briefed us well enough on just how bad Omega is. Do yourself a favor, and make sure you're armed," Kenn said as he handed Tali his arc-welder.

Taking a minute to inspect the power couplings and process what Kenn said, she commented, "These couplings are in bad shape. I can get them at least close to their original condition. What do you mean?"

Kenn observed the young woman as she went to work on the couplings. "Well, they always said that Omega was bad, but maybe because we were taught that, this place has a bit more of an allure to it. Anyway, I ended up getting robbed soon after arriving here while I was on Pilgrimage. To be honest, I'm still on Pilgrimage right now, but I don't have the money to afford passage off of this station," he sighed, and slumped up against the remains of a piece of heavy machinery.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Kenn. I'd give you some money but I don't really have any to spare, and I've only recently started my own Pilgrimage. Here's the problem, these circuits got cut out of the loop when the couplings got these gashes ripped into them." Tali finished repairing the power couplings, and dusting her hands off while handing the arc-welder back to Kenn.

Kenn took a look at the power couplings, and then ran a diagnostic with his omnitool. Moments later, the device confirmed that Tali's repairs worked, and the couplings were going to be able to run pretty much as if they just came off the factory line. "Tali, I don't know where you got your talent from, but you've certainly got a knack for knowing your way around tech."

Tali laughed a bit, but responded in a much quieter voice, "I guess that's what happens when you're an admiral's daughter. I was given the best education and training possible simply because of my father and his influence."

"And who might your father be, if you don't mind my asking?" Kenn got up from where he had been sitting, and stared directly at Tali, his curiosity piqued.

"I guess I should've introduced myself fully. I am Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. My father is Admiral Rael'Zorah." Tali waited for Kenn to cringe or shy away, but he didn't.

"I never really knew anyone who was even indirectly related to an Admiral, let alone being an admiral's kid. Your expertise with those power couplings definitely showed."

"Thanks, Kenn. By the way, would you happen to know where I could find someone who would be willing to transport me to the Citadel?"

Kenn thought for a bit. "Well, I'm assuming you came by way of the public transports, so you could go over to the private space docks. Usually there are some freighters and other vessels whose crews would be willing to ferry you, but for a price. Do you know where the docks are?"

Tali shook her head. "No, I do not. Could you point me in the right direction?"

"I can do you one better. I have the map for the entire station in my omnitool. I can transfer it to you if you'd like."

"That would be great, Kenn. I wish I could do more to repay you," Tali said, trying to find something she could give him as a way of saying thanks.

Kenn merely shook his head. "Tali, it is I who should be thanking you. You were able to repair those power couplings in a matter of minutes whereas I had been slaving away on them for a number of hours. Consider this map as my way of saying thanks. And if you need to purchase anything from my kiosk, I'll make sure you get a discount. "

"Thanks for the map and the discount, Kenn. I should get going though. I don't want to miss a potential flight out to the Citadel. Good luck with getting enough credits together to get off this station and continue on your Pilgrimage. Keelah Se'lai." Tali turned to walk away from his stand, already studying Omega's map to find the quickest way to the private space docks.

Kenn replied before she started walking away, "I hope your Pilgrimage turns out well and you bring back a treasure trove of valuables to the fleet. Keelah Se'lai." And that was that.

**1 hour later…**

Tali finally found her way to the private space docks. She started looking around, trying to see if anyone would give her passage. Most of the ship captains seemed to be Humans or Turians, the former not really noticing her and the latter actively ignoring her. A few Asari and Krogan captains were scattered around the docks.

'I hope I'll find a captain who would be able to take me for a price I can afford. Here goes nothing,' she sighed to herself as she began her search. That Asari over there seemed to be friendly enough…

**3 hours later…**

'That bosh'tet! I can't believe he wanted to solicit _that_ in exchange for passage to the Citadel!' Tali fumed as she stormed away from her most recent attempt at securing a way off of the station. The captain in question was very lecherous Volus, of all species. He was one of the few captains willing to offer her a spot on the ship, but his price was too much. When asked to see if there was any way he could reduce the price, he not-so-subtly suggested she bunk with him during the flight. Obviously, Tali didn't take kindly to such advances and backed away. If he had continued to pursue, she would've had to have pulled her shotgun on him. That weapon was a gift from one of her few childhood friends, and had required more than a few favors to be called in for the gun to even be available as a gift.

Looking down the way, Tali's heart sank. That Volus's ship was the last one in the dock that she hadn't checked. She sank to the ground as the realization hit her. She wasn't going to be getting off of Omega any time soon.

"Excuse me, miss. I couldn't help but overhear that you were looking for someone to give you a lift out to the Citadel?" a kindly voice spoke from behind her.

Tali bolted to her feet and spun around to address the speaker. "Yes, you heard correctly. I haven't had any luck with any of the captains around here. Their fees were either too high or they just weren't interested." She sighed as she looked at the man standing in front of her.

He was a Human, and an older one at that based on the color of his hair and the wrinkles on his skin. He also walked around with a funny little stick, which she observed seemed to help him keep his balance. Tali noticed that his eyes were remarkably clear and unclouded for someone of his age, but she attributed it to genetic modifications, as that was the norm in this day and age.

The old man told her, "Well, miss, you just might be in luck after all. I'd be more than willing to let you fly with me, but my ship currently isn't spaceworthy. I hope I don't offend you when I say that judging by the looks of you, you probably have more than enough experience with technology to get my ship back in working order." He smiled as he stood in front of her.

"And what exactly tipped you off to my apparent skill with tech?" She cocked her head in genuine puzzlement.

"Simple. I noticed when you were using your omnitool, it worked a lot faster and did more than that particular model should've been capable of. That you were able to improve the device that far beyond its maximum limits speaks volumes of your skill level." He grinned impishly as she became more baffled.

"But how do you know I did the modifications myself? I could very well have gotten this from a friend who knows a lot about tech," Tali countered, believing she had finally found a hole in the old man's argument.

"Let me be honest. Only a Quarian machinist who is naturally a genius with tech can make a simple Bluewire Tool I operate like it were a Logic Arrest Tool III. I've seen more than my fair share of the galaxy, and believe me when I tell you very few individuals have the ability to make their tech work so well for them. Now, if you'll follow me, I believe we have a ship to fix." His grin never fading, the old man started walking off, away from the majority of the other ships. Tali followed as this would be the only chance she'd get in the foreseeable future of getting to the Citadel.

Moments later, Tali found herself standing in front of a modest little freighter that had clearly seen better days. She gave the ship a good once-over before asking the old man a question. "So what exactly is the issue with the ship? It definitely looks like it has been neglected for a while."

The old man chuckled and a smirk played across his face as he gazed upon his vessel. "I was able to save this freighter from an early demise back when I was younger. I'd always had just enough luck fixing things on my own or with an engineer nearby to keep her spaceworthy. Right now I believe the engines are the reason my bird won't be able to fly. The insides seem to be a royal mess, but they shouldn't be a problem for someone such as yourself. Most Quarians can make a simple circuit board perform precision jumps if given a small amount of eezo to work with, no?"

Tali could only stare back at the old man and wonder exactly what he was getting at. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to get started immediately. However, you haven't mentioned anything about payment. How much are you asking for me to be your passenger?"

The old man chuckled again. "My dear, I don't ask for anything from you except your level best to get my ship up and running again. If you can do that, your fare is on the house."

Tali's jaw dropped, the action concealed by her visor. "Keelah, you're being very generous. I'll make sure I can get your ship improved as much as possible. May I check out what needs to be fixed?"

The old man smiled. "By all means, go on ahead. I believe I've procured enough extra materials to complete repairs. Please let me know if you need anything else."

With that, Tali went into the ship to find out how she could fix everything.

**Fourteen hours later…**

Tali took a minute to take a breather. The worst seemed to be behind her as the engines now were operational and everything worked, at the very least. However, she saw that she could make many improvements and boosts to the ship, and the best part about it was that she had the materials to make those improvements happen. But for now, a nap was on order.

She wandered up towards the common area, where she wasn't surprised to find the old man sitting there, relaxing away and reading a book. Not an electronic book, but an honest-to-goodness real book with pages and a spine and cover and everything. Upon hearing her enter the common area, he looked up.

"So, Ms. Talented Engineer, how goes the repairs on my humble ship?" he asked, almost as if he knew she completed the repairs.

"Well, your ship is definitely spaceworthy again. A lot of the issues came from the fact that a number of components were worn out and were neglected. With proper care, those parts could've been saved, but they can still be cannibalized for working parts. I've noticed that the ship's systems can be improved by a significant amount, and looking at the amount of spare parts I have to work with, I believe I can make those improvements happen. However, I am really tired. Where can I rest?"

"The crew quarters are just down that hallway to your left. You might want to take the second room on the left, I had recently installed a decontamination unit in there in the event that I'd come across someone with a weaker immune system. It seems that money was well spent," he said, grinning that impish grin again. "And by the way, our flight time will be a day and a half, so feel free to rest as long as you'd like."

"Thank you for letting me use one of your rooms. I'm going to take a little nap now, and then I'll get right back to work on improving your ship." With that, she headed down the indicated hallway and into her room to get some much-needed rest.

Once the decontamination cycle ended, she stepped through the second door and into her room. There was a note on the bed that said:

_My Dear Guest,_

_I hope you will put this clean room to good use. I have provided the softest linens possible and the most comfortable mattress I could afford, so I hope that if you wish to sleep, you'll allow yourself the freedom to sleep without the encumbrances of your environmental suit. Regardless of what you decide, I do hope you have a pleasant rest._

Tali smiled beneath her mask as she read the note. After scanning the room to verify it indeed was clean, she began the long process of taking off her environmental suit.

A while later, she walked over to the bed, completely unclothed. She reveled in the feeling of having the air currents from the ventilation system passing over her bare skin, enjoying the sensations of how her body reacted to the breeze. She ran a hand through her short hair, glad to finally teas out some of the nasty helmet hair she was sure she had. She bounced up and down on her toes for a bit, glad to have her bare feet on the deck's grating and not just feeling it through her boots.

She then had a brilliant idea. Grabbed a tube of nutrient paste from her suit, she squeezed its contents directly into her mouth, careful to make sure the tube didn't get pierced by her canines, which were long enough to be considered fangs. The paste tasted just the same, but she was glad to be able to feel the tube as it got squeezed dry, and enjoy the simple pleasure of eating without her suit getting in the way.

She climbed into bed, and relished the feeling of the satin sheets as they shifted around her body. The feeling of her head resting directly on a pillow was pure bliss. Moments later, she fell fast asleep, completely cocooned in the blankets.

**Nine hours later…**

Tali left her room feeling much more refreshed, but worried that she had slept away too much of the trip. She could feel the gentle vibrations underneath her feet, which indicated that the ship's engines were online. Looking out the viewport in the common area, she discovered that the shutters were closed, so they were probably in FTL transit right now. The old man was nowhere to be found but she figured he probably went off to sleep, too. She headed off to the engine room to improve the output of the drive core and some of the auxiliary systems.

She quickly completed the upgrades to the engines and drive core, and then moved on to see if she could boost the power of the kinetic barriers. After fiddling around with some systems and swapping out parts in a myriad of components, she found that the kinetic barriers received a massive 20% boost.

Retreating from the engine room, she realized she improved everything about as much as she could. She increase both the power of the engines and drive core by at least 5%, managed to increase the engines' efficiency by 10%, and improved both the kinetic barrier strength and recharge rate by 20%. Some of the auxiliary systems were made a little more efficient.

Tali headed towards the common room, where the old man was reading once again. He looked up at her and said, "Well, it seems like you've been busy. What were you able to improve and by how much?"

She went into the short and skinny version of her report to him, and after she was done talking he replied, "My hunches about you were correct. You really are a mechanical genius amongst the Quarian people. I expected that you'd maybe get half of what you ended up getting out of this ship."

Tali blushed. Getting praise like this rarely happened to her. "Thank you for your praise. I'm sure others could have done a good job as well…"

"Certainly, but they'd be lucky if they got the ship's improvements to be half as good as what you got. You really do have a knack for making machines do incredible things." He put his bookmark in the book and set it aside. "So, tell me about yourself. How's your Pilgrimage coming along?"

Tali was taking aback for a moment. "How did you know I was on Pilgrimage?"

The old man reclined in his chair and smiled, "I know that Quarians tend not to leave the Fleet for extended periods of time, and especially not stay in places like Omega unless they're on Pilgrimage. You're looking for something of value to bring back to the fleet. So, found anything interesting?"

"Well, you certainly know more about my people than most folk would. Yes, I am on my Pilgrimage right now. I've always wanted to see what the Citadel was like, and I figured what better time to go see it than now? I might even find a suitable Pilgrimage gift there," she said with a shrug.

"A good plan to say the least, but I believe you're missing something. You came to Omega of your own volition. Given that you searched every single ship that was in the private docks, I'm inclined to believe that you were on a flight that was only supposed to resupply at Omega before continuing onto the Citadel. Am I correct so far?" He got a nod in response. He continued on, "This suggests that you have something of value already, but you don't know how to use it. How far off the mark was I on that?" His dark blue eyes stared intently into Tali's silver orbs. She almost felt as if he already knew about the data she got from the Geth memory core.

"Well, you're very astute. I do have something but I don't know what to do with it."

"Be careful what you do with it. If it's as valuable and delicate as I believe it to be, you'll want to exercise caution when we reach our destination. It seems like your prize is something that people would kill to have in their hands. I'd reckon if the people who want what you have end up finding out that you have it, you can expect to see some merc hunting squads and all sorts of nasty trash trying to bring you down." The old man sat up for a second and mimed firing a pistol in Tali's direction.

Tali took a moment to process what he had just said. "I'll make sure to exercise caution. I just hope that nobody's found out about what I found out."

The old man sat up and stared at her. "Don't hope, because chances are they already know. Just do your best to keep from being detected and if worst comes to worst, make sure you can get away."

"Well, it's getting late. We've got about half a day left so I'd recommend you get some sleep and enjoy that room. I know I'm going to grab some sleep myself," the old man said as he stood up, yawning.

"Alright, well good night. And thank you for your advice." Tali got up as well to return to her room.

However, sleep eluded the young Quarian that night. Try as she might, she couldn't shake off a sense of unease and foreboding. 'It's probably just thinking that I might be hunted as we speak, that's all' she thought to herself. But a few hours later, she gave up on sleep and went to explore the ship again.

She wandered around and found a room that she hadn't noticed before. The door seemed to be rather high-tech and extremely durable. Checking it with her omnitool, she proceeded to push it open. It swung inward without so much as a squeak. Peering inside, she continued her investigation. What she saw was eerie to say the least.

The room into which she entered was filled with extremely advanced equipment, so much so that it was clearly not originally part of the ship. All sorts of displays and devices covered the walls, but in the middle, she saw the old man.

He was lying on a reclining chair, similar in design to the dentist chairs of 21st Century Earth, but there was a strange mechanical contraption covering most of his head that pulsed with a blue light. Also, Tali could feel a powerful aura in the room. It wasn't hostile, but felt very vigilant and almost as if it were observing her.

Feeling sufficiently creeped out by the scene in front of her, Tali quietly left the room and closed the door behind her. She then hurried off to her room and dove beneath the covers, not even bothering to take her suit off again.

**A/N: Love it? Hate it? Confused by it? R&R please!**


	4. Chapter 3: Present

Tali felt the ship shudder as it went through the Mass Relay. 'What's up with that old man? He's really creeping me out now…' she cringed as she couldn't shake off the feeling of unease at what she had witnessed only hours before. Not only was her mind filled with questions, but she at a complete loss for the presence in that room that she felt. There had to be an answer to it, but she didn't need to think about it right now. 'Just try to get some rest. You've got a big day ahead of you,' she thought to herself as she tried to go to sleep.

However, sleep eluded her. She dared not use any of her suit's sedative supplies, as she might need it later if and when she got a nasty injury. And besides, she didn't want to sleep because she didn't know what the old man would do to her. Trying to get the unnerving thoughts out of her head, she started thinking about her destination and what she'd do while she was out there.

Her reverie was broken by the room's PA speaker chirping away. It was the old man on the line. "My guest, I apologize if I have offended and frightened you. It was not my wish to do so, and I don't wish you any harm. We will be entering visual range of the Citadel soon, so I wanted to make sure you had time to prepare yourself. If you want, you can meet me at the bridge and see the Citadel for yourself. It's truly a sight to behold."

Sighing as her natural curiosity and youthful enthusiasm took hold once again, Tali decided to take him up on his offer. Moments later, she found herself on the ship's bridge, and staring in awe through its viewports as the awe-inspiring Citadel came into view.

"Keelah, that's even larger than I thought it would be!" she exclaimed as she pressed her visor up against the viewport's glass. The station's arms seemed like they could engulf a sizable chunk of the fleet.

The old man chuckled. "Yes, it never gets old. A testament to those that have gone before us, and a beacon of hope for those that will follow. I always enjoy visiting the Citadel when I can. Do you have an idea as to what you wish to do once you get there?" he asked.

"I, really do not know. I was thinking about maybe exploring the Wards, though I would love to see the Presidium. However, I doubt they'd let a Quarian up there, with our reputation." Tali sighed as she realized that she may never see the Presidium in her lifetime, but at least she would be able to see the bustling life that she heard of in the Wards.

The old man smirked and shrugged, "You never know. You may well get your wish. I can think of more outlandish things happening."

"I really hope so. I've only heard from old reports how beautiful the Presidium was. Big lakes, clean and white walls, wide-open spaces…" her voice trailed off as she thought more about the wonders she'd see out there.

"I've only been there a little myself, but your reports still sound accurate. Alright, this is where I've got to take over from the VI, excuse me while I guide us in." The old man wandered over to the piloting station and took over, flying the ship in entirely on manual control.

Tali watched as the Citadel loomed even closer and then noticed the warships patrolling the massive station. She then saw a single behemoth that dwarfed all the other ships.

Pointing to the massive dreadnaught, she asked the old man, "What's that one over there? The really big one?"

He looked over, and a fond expression crossed his face. "That is the _Destiny Ascension_, pride of the Asari fleet. She stands at approximately one kilometer stem to stern with a main gun that runs almost the entire length. I've always been fond of her, she's something of a favorite of mine. Something about the architecture and how all the lines flow like water into each other," he commented with a wistful tone in his voice.

Tali continued to admire the dreadnaught until it passed out of sight in the viewport. She then returned her attention the old man. "So how does the ship feel now after the upgrades I gave it?" she inquired.

The old man chuckled. "You sure did a fabulous job. It feels like I can make this ship pirouette if I wanted her to!"

Tali cocked her head, completely confused. "Pirouette…? What's that?"

His chuckles became full-fledged guffaws as he belly-laughed. The sudden change in volume was enough to startle her. Wiping a tear of mirth from his eye, he told her, "It's a human term for dancing. I believe it originated in the form of ballet, and it describes a graceful full spin while rotating on the tip of one's foot. Ah, these old bones can no longer do what they used to do, so I can't demonstrate. However, I do have this video on my omnitool. Perhaps you'd like to see it?"

She nodded her head, and he pulled up the video and set it to project on its holo-display. A video of a dancer gracefully spinning came up on the display.

The old man chuckled, "That, my dear, is a pirouette. Oh, looks like we're about to dock. Get your things ready, I have one last thing to discuss with you before you disembark."

Tali went back to gather her rucksack, pondering what exactly the old man wanted to talk to her about. 'What exactly does he want to show me? He's been kind enough so far, but what if this was all just a ruse? No, besides the creepy room, I haven't seen any reason to be afraid,' she thought for a bit. A few minutes later, she was headed back for the bridge, despite her previous reservations. Along the way, she heard the telltale thump of docking clamps securing the ship to the docking port.

The old man looked back at her as she walked up to him. "I keep forgetting how efficiently you Quarians pack. Had it been me packing my things I'd probably have taken at least three times as long to get ready," he chuckled. He looked over at a small bag that lay next to his chair. "I've got something for you, but as you probably figured, we've docked. I'll give it to you once we get onto the station.

Walking off of the bridge and through the airlock, Tali followed the old man and stepped onto the Citadel for the first time. Even though she still hadn't gone through security and entered the Citadel proper, she still was excited. A little ways later, the old man turned around to face Tali.

"As I told you before, I have a little present for you. Your upgrades have enabled that old bird of mine to handle a lot more than she previously could. I want you to have this," he said as he gave her the bag he carried over his shoulder.

Tali accepted the bag, curious as to what was inside. "What's in the bag?" she inquired.

The old man chuckled. "Please, look inside. I'm sure you'll like it."

The bag zipped open and Tali gasped at what was inside. An ancient-looking piece of tech with what looked like a folding screen along with a boxy device with a cord snaking out of either side were the bag's contents. Turning the device over in her hands, she asked, "It's really old! What exactly is it?"

With a smirk, the old man replied, "It's a piece of tech from humanity's earlier years as a spacefaring race. It's called a laptop. This particular model dates back to about the year 2008. And yes, it works. I've modified the power adapter so it'll work with any of the universal charging ports you'll run across. I have compiled a manual that'll show you how to operate the device completely. I've already translated it into Khelish, but it's been a while so I apologize if there were any errors made."

Tali protested, "I appreciate your generosity with the manual and everything, but the fact still remains that this is a precious relic! It must be worth millions of credits, if it isn't already priceless! I can't possibly take this from you!" She tried to push the laptop back into the old man's hands.

He merely smirked back at her, with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "I've wandered this galaxy for a long time, and I know that things happen for a reason. Trust me, you'll thank me later." He pushed the computer back into Tali's hands and proceeded to walk back to the ship. After walking a few steps, he turned around and handed Tali a datapad. "In the event that Citadel Security ends up trying to confiscate the laptop from you, show them this. It has my credentials on it as well as reference information. It could come in handy. Take care of yourself." He turned around to go back into his ship.

Tali was lost for words. Here she was, a lowly Quarian girl still at the beginning of her Pilgrimage, with an extremely old and fully functional human laptop and she had hardly taken more than a dozen steps onto the Citadel! As she walked away she realized she never got the old man's name. "Hey mister! I never got your name…" her voice dropped off when she turned around to find that the dock was empty.

"That's really strange. Now what am I going to do with all of this?" she asked herself as she walked towards the security checkpoint. As she approached, a Turian guard walked up to her.

"Miss, you've been flagged for a random search of all your belongings. Please come with me," he said, indicating that she should follow him past the regular security checkpoint for what looked like another checkpoint with an interrogation room attached to it.

"Oh Keelah…"


	5. Chapter 4: Breaking Point

**A/N: Hey readers, if you could, please do review the story. Not only does it help us figure out what we can do to make the story better, but it also helps keep us going. So read and review! Thanks a bunch!**

"Go, go, go!" Daniel cheered, as Shepard ran towards the SR-2. He felt an overwhelming sense of anxiety. Fictional or not, he had grown attached to the team: Shepard, Garrus, Tali, Joker, everyone. Now at the Collector Base, it was time to see whether or not everyone would survive. No one had died yet, and he wasn't planning on letting anyone now.

Shepard had just told the Illusive Man that he wasn't going to compromise who he was out of fear, and armed the bomb. If Daniel had been in his place, he would have too. 'Oh, wait...ah, I get what I'm telling myself', he thought. "Yes!" he shouted, as Shepard jumped to the Normandy, and managed to grab hold of the deck before Tali and Garrus hauled him up. Daniel watched as the collection of pixels known as Shepard got to his feet, and moved, just in time for the airlock door to swing shut, and seal.

He watched in awe as the Normandy blasted out of the Collector Base like a rocket, and none too soon. Just barely avoiding the huge explosive blast, the Normandy activated its FTL drive, and surged ahead at the speed of light, instantly out of range of the blast wave. The various cutscenes seemed a little less intense, but just as emotional, as the last. It was when the camera switched to the perspective of the Reapers that Daniel's jaw dropped. There had to be thousands of the things! Then the credits rolled, ruining the emotional thrill ride ME2 had been.

"Well what now?" he asked no one in particular. He saved the game, then shut down the Xbox. 'May as well check my mail', he thought. He rose up from the folding chair he'd been sitting in, and moved over to the bed, where he was now keeping his laptop. Powering it on, he waited a few moments before hearing the distinctive noise of Windows Vista starting up. When the Desktop came up, he felt a slight surge of anger, as he stared at the photo of him and his team, a few weeks before they had left to embark on that fateful mission. 'Who knows', he thought, 'maybe by the time I get recalled to active duty, the higher ups will have gotten their heads out of their asses'. Using the touchpad, he moved the cursor over the Internet icon and clicked, bringing up his home page, Yahoo.

As he moved the cursor over his mail icon, he noticed that there was an unusually small amount today. 'That's a bit odd', he thought. Most were just standard alerts and notifications from the stories he had been reading on a writing site, and not much else besides spam. He checked each, and then deleted them all. One final icon caught his attention. He moved the cursor and was about to click the mouse, when a text box popped up of its own accord. The message in it was short and simple.

"Hello? Is anyone on here?"

Tali hadn't been expecting to see anyone else actually using such an obsolete piece of equipment, but the proof was right in front of her. A ding announced an answer.

"Yes. Who is this?" she read. Tali thought quickly. The only person who would still be using this would be a human, since they had made it in the first place. Other than the old man she had met earlier, she hadn't been treated very well by most humans either, although all together, they were much more tolerant than most people. She made her decision.

"Hi. I'm Tali." she typed in, foregoing her clan and birth ship, which was unique to the Quarian culture. If this person was tolerant, then she'd tell him, but until then, she saw a chance to keep herself entertained until she was summoned by an officer so her possessions could be searched. She didn't feel like playing the standard games on the omni-tool any longer, it felt necessary to talk to someone, anyone.

Daniel wasn't sure what to think. The name Tali wasn't exactly common, but it wasn't impossible. He finally wrote it off as a coincidence.

"How are you doing?" he typed in.

Tali read over the question. It was simple enough, but the trick was what she could and couldn't say.

"I've been flagged for a random inspection of my stuff, but I've been stuck here for a while," she typed in.

"Haha, I know what you mean. It's always 'just a few more minutes and we'll get to you' and when they finally get to you, you're stuck in an interrogation room and they're questioning you about random bullshit. If you're lucky, they won't ask for a full body cavity search as well," he replied.

"And you have experience with these interrogations?" was the reply. He grinned at the message, the woman was fiesty, too.

"You could say that." Tali was a little unnerved by his answer. She had no idea who this was she was talking to. Resolving to find out who, she typed in a question.

"Who exactly are you?" she entered. Now genuinely curious and willing to talk, she awaited his answer.

"I'm Daniel White." he typed in. Best that she not know what he did for a living. At that moment, his cell phone began to ring. He hurriedly pecked a sentence onto the computer.

"I've got a call. Give me just a minute." he messaged Tali before pulling the cell phone out of his pocket and flipping it open.

"Daniel White here." he said calmly, awaiting an answer.

"White, it's me, Jackson. Report back to the base immediately." the connection was ended, and Daniel knew that he couldn't screw around, something big was going down.

"There's something important I've got to do. Talk to you later?" he typed into his laptop.

Tali's heart sank slightly in disappointment. It would have been nice to have any kind of contact, be it in person or through technology.

"Okay." she typed in response, as the other user, 'Daniel' left the chatroom. Wait a minute, she thought. She'd heard that somewhere, but where...On a hunch, Tali closed out of the chat window, and again stared at the picture on the screen. It was a very old picture, Tali could see. From before humans had discovered the Prothean data cache on Mars, and branched out into the galaxy. She looked at the upper left chest area of the uniforms, where names were clearly stenciled on their jackets. _Sanders, Steele, Patterson...White...White!_

The man had just said his name was Daniel White, and the man in the photo had to be one of his ancestors! She had his computer, whether he knew it or not, Tali thought. She opened up the main files on the computer, and began checking the contents. Old e-mails, pictures, songs-wait, music? Old human music? Tali couldn't resist the temptation. She looked over the most frequently listened to file, and found one that sounded interesting. Halle-Hallelujah? Shrugging her shoulders, Tali clicked on it, and she soon heard instruments beginning to play. She was fascinated with those, when the singer started in.

_Well I, heard there was a secret chord,_  
_That David played and it pleased the lord,_  
_But you don't really care for music, do you?_  
_Well it goes like this, the fourth, the fifth,_  
_The minor fall and the major lift,_  
_The baffled king composing Hallelujah,_

_Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah_- Tali tapped the stop button. That had not been what she was expecting, she was expecting something more primitive, not so well controlled and harmonious. It made her question her views on music altogether. Nervously, she looked around the small side room she was hiding in, and pressed play again.

As Daniel entered Jackson's office for the first time in nearly a week, he glanced around. There were two other men, on high ranking officer, and one other man dressed in an Army green dress uniform.

"Ah, Lieutenant White, take a seat. This is Colonel Daren Sheffield, and I am Captain Zachary West. We are from the Army PR office." White snapped to attention, standing stiffly.

"At ease, White." Jackson growled. The two caught each others eyes, and Jackson simply shook his head. 'This doesn't look good', White thought, before relaxing if a little uneasily.

"White, we are here because of your inability to accept our judgment of the situation. We have told you before, this mission was a failure, and records were burned... along with anything else potentially incriminating." a slight smile of self-satisfaction slid over his face. Daniel's blood ran cold at the meaning behind the officer's words.

"Are you telling me, that you burned the bodies of my men?" he snarled, his face turning bright red. "Men who had the right to an honorable burial!" he shouted up from the seat in front of Jackson's desk.

"Yes we are, _Lieutenant. _Do you have trouble with your commanding officers, White? From what I've heard, you are quite the-_crack_!" White had dealt with a heavy amount of bullshit so far, but this was taking it too far. He had slowly stood up from the chair, rising to his full height of 6' 3". As fast as lightning, his fist shot out and crashed into the officer's jaw. The man was bowled over by the punch, falling to the floor swearing in pain. The Colonel moved to restrain Daniel, but he gave the man a look so hellish that he stopped cold in his tracks. Daniel reached down, and pulled West to his feet by the scruff of his neck.

"Do you want to know why we're losing the war, _Captain_?" White thundered, his face turning a dangerous shade of purple. "It's because pathetic, weaseling sacks of shit like you have managed to work your way into one of the finest organizations in the world. Sixty years ago, there was no pansy-ass 'hearts and minds' program, because we both know that that load of horseshit has never worked! Sixty years ago, we would roll in, and _beat _the _tar _out of anyone dumb enough to fuck with the States! Now, we've got to run away from the smallest of conflicts because politicians like you have their heads buried so far up their ass that they can't see shit! My men deserved better, they're dead because of pricks like you, West. I don't know how you live with yourself."

White flung the man across the room. West hit the wall with a loud thud, and fell to the floor. Daniel's face returned to his normal color, and he turned to face Jackson.

His CO had a saddened, and yet amused look on his face. He looked up to meet Daniel eye-to-eye.

"I resign." Daniel said coolly, before turning around, and striding out of the office.


	6. Chapter 5: Preparation

**Hey guys! Here's the next chapter. Let us know what you think, but most importantly, enjoy! And if you can, please R&R! Thanks!**

Daniel White strode out of his commander's building in a hurry. It wouldn't take long for the military Police to catch up with him. He had to figure out a way to get out of state, probably out of country. He unlocked and entered his old Plymouth Duster, which was a faded shade of black, and turned the key in the ignition. As he pulled out of the HQ parking lot, he pondered about what he would do now. 'I haven't got long,' he thought, bursting through the door of his apartment. Grabbing the duffel bags he had sitting nearby, he began packing his valuables, throwing them into a duffel bag. 'A few last things,' he smirked mentally. Even Carrie couldn't have stolen this double door dresser.

He had it welded to the floor and installed a top-notch security system, one above par with the locks at the base. Entering the code, he flung the doors open, and revealed a collection that would make anyone think twice before crossing him.

On the right door, Daniel picked up a Colt .45 caliber M1911 pistol that was snugly stowed inside a leather hip holster. Alongside that was a Winchester M1897 Trench Gun with a sawn off barrel. Both of these weapons had seen a lot of use, and were very well maintained. Ammo for the two was in small cardboard boxes on a shelf built into the door. His grandfather had served in WWII, and had collected a lot of trophies, which, thanks to a little persuasion of the officials, still worked perfectly.

Daniel moved quickly, strapping the holster around his waist then draping the bandolier over him. He grabbed the .45 rounds for the pistol, and slid them into the small leather holding straps on one of the bandoliers. Extra loaded clips were slid into their straps on the same side of the bandolier. The remaining ammo boxes went into the duffel bag. He picked up the extra 12 gauge shells for the shotgun and slid them into the small straps on the other bandolier, with a few of his reverse-taped M2 carbine clips also slid into their slots. These clips, being taped together and upside down, allowed for rapid reloads in the middle of a firefight. After filling out the bandoliers with ammo, he proceeded to sling the trench gun over his neck so it lay across his chest.

Reaching into the far corner of the cabinet, he picked up his M2 carbine and hung it over his shoulder and neck by the strap. Adjusting it to lie flat across his back, he reached back in, pulling out another weapon. The M2 carbine was an upgrade from the semi-automatic M1 that was used more predominately in WWII. The M2 saw service as soon as the invasion of Okinawa, but was less common. However, it offered variable fire settings, capable of going from full auto to semi with just the flick of a switch. The scope on the weapon was easily detachable and allowed the weapon to serve as both a sniper and assault rifle.

'I get caught with these, and there's going to be a hell of a lot of explaining to do,' Daniel thought dryly as he proceeded to toss the last boxes of .30 ammo into the duffel bag. He took a moment to look at himself in the mirror, and he realized he was extremely well-armed for a former soldier. "Or soon to be, anyways," he muttered to himself. The PR officer was going to be pissed. They were going to throw him in the brig for striking a superior officer as soon as they got the chance, the corrupt bastards. At least Jackson kept himself above it, and for that, Daniel had a lot of respect for the man.

Now, he had to figure out where the hell he wanted to go. 'Maybe Canada, I hear the weather's great this time of year,' he mused. The brass and politicians were going to want to shut him up any way possible, and Daniel had seen too many of these "solutions" to say that he'd ever want to be on the receiving end of one. 'Canada's my best bet, eh?' he thought. 'I can find some small, unheard of town, settle down, and build a house secluded enough so that no one will bother me.'

"Think you've got enough there?" a voice asked from behind him. Daniel spun around, leveling his .45 at an old man. The man in front of him was still smiling, regardless of the firearm raised and pointed at him. "Going to shoot an old man?" he asked, an amused expression on his face.

Daniel slowly lowered the Colt, and slid it back into its holster. "Who are you? What do you want?" he asked cautiously, hand still near the pistol.

The old man chuckled. "Just call me Tom," he said amicably, before walking past the doorway of Daniel's apartment.

'Wait a minute, hadn't I locked the door?' Daniel thought as he looked behind Tom. Sure enough, the door was still locked, as was the window. Shaking off these thoughts, he turned back to Tom. The old man had seen better years, but he still held the sharp look of intelligence in his bright blue eyes. Somewhat too bright, come to think of it, especially for an older person.

"So, why are you in my apartment?" he asked slowly, returning to his task. He finished putting all of his extra ammo into the duffel bag and proceeded to put on his boonie hat, which matched the Ranger fatigues he was currently wearing.

"Do you have anything to cover that up?" Tom asked, gesturing to Daniel's heavy armament and ammo strapped across him.

Daniel looked down at himself, then replied, "No, I don't. I don't have time to buy anything to cover these up with, so I'm going to draw a lot of attention with all of this."

"You have no idea…" Tom murmured almost silently, so quietly that White barely heard it.

"Pardon?" he said, staring the man in the eyes. There was definitely something…off about them. They didn't seem natural…

"Oh, nothing!" Tom said, a grin returning to his aged features. His gaze glazed over for a second as if he were deep in thought, before his eyes suddenly and sharply refocused. He frowned and muttered, "Damned bigots. This is going to make things a lot less subtle…"

"What do you—" Daniel was interrupted as the door to his apartment was blown off its hinges. A squad of military police moved into the room.

"Everyone on the ground! Don't move!" the team leader shouted.

Daniel saw Tom frown, and place one hand on the laptop sitting on the bed. A moment later, a song erupted throughout the apartment.

"ALL ABOARD!" the laptop cried, with Ozzy Osbourne's voice clearly recognizable even with the almost deafening level of guitar riffs coming through the computer's speakers. The Military Police froze for a moment as they were caught off guard by the song suddenly coming on. As they hesitated, Tom flicked his wrist at the group. A wave of violent blue energy surrounded them and put them into a…Stasis?

"Who the hell are you?" Daniel demanded, grabbing his .45 Colt from the shoulder holster, and leveling it at the old man.

"Please don't point that at me," the old man remarked. "I'm afraid I can't tell you who I am. At least, not yet. Just call me Tom, please," Tom looked Daniel squarely in the eyes.

"There's no fucking way you should be able to do that!" Daniel gestured at the stasis field. Tom followed his gaze.

"And why not?" the question caught Daniel off-guard. It could be possible…it was just far-fetched. Then again, seeing it live and in person kind of proved that it was real. Which meant that everything else was true too. The Reapers…Daniel shuddered at that particularly unpleasant thought.

"So you know about the threat to the universe, correct?" Tom inquired.

"Wait a...you mean the Reapers…but—"

"Yes, them. None of that is fiction my boy. Just the work of some very prophetic game writers, if I do say so myself." Tom chuckled lightly to himself. "Let's stop beating around the bush, shall we? You are needed in the fight. I cannot tell you how, but it is partially due to your knowledge and combat abilities.

"What are you…" Daniel was about to finish his question when Tom cut him off again.

Tom placed his hand on the laptop again and said, "You'll understand. Trust me."

"But what—I mean—" Daniel never got to finish, as the laptop glowed a bright red and sent a sphere of energy arcing out towards him. Then Daniel felt nothing.

The old man turned back to the apartment. He was glad the human hadn't tried to fight as his patience was starting wear a little thin today. He turned and saw the squad of soldiers still frozen in place against the wall. He concentrated then relaxed. When he released the soldiers, they would no longer remember a thing. Just as he was about to leave, he remembered the laptop.

"Oh bugger, I nearly forgot!" he exclaimed, smacking himself in the head and grabbing the small computer. He walked out the door, then waved a hand behind him. A series of thuds could be heard as the MP's fell to the floor, unconscious. He smiled. The plan was going as expected.


	7. Chapter 6: Arrival

**Hey everyone! So Sarge and I just realized we accidentally had two copies of the same chapter up. Chapter 2: Premonitions is now the correct chapter, so please go and check it out!**

**School's been eating my soul, but for those of you still staying tuned, here's the next chapter! Please R&R, and we'll make sure the next chapter gets uploaded with less of a delay! Without further ado, here's Chapter 6!**

"Wait here. We'll be with you shortly." The Turian in the blue C-Sec armor motioned for Tali to wait outside the interrogation room.

Tali nodded and sat down. "How long do you think it'll be before you get to me?" she asked.

"We've got a lot of beings already in line for the random search and questioning, so you'll probably be waiting here an hour or two." The Turian turned around and left without waiting for a reply.

Tali decided to take out the present she just received. She opened up the instruction manual Tom had given her and looked at how to operate the laptop she just received. It didn't seem that bad, and luckily the letters on the keys matched up pretty well with the Khelish analogues. She turned the computer on and used the login information the manual gave her.

When the computer finished booting up, she was greeted with a picture of four men dressed in what looked like military fatigues. They were standing in some strange area, but definitely on a planet somewhere. She continued reading the manual about the machine and how it used an ancient form of the Extranet known as the Internet. She toyed around and found that it had a connection, though to where, she didn't know. She was intrigued by this 'instant message' service, and decided to fire it up.

She loaded up the program and, not expecting anyone to actually be on, sent out her first message. "Hello? Is anyone on here?"

**A little while later…**

Tali noticed that the 'Daniel' she chatted with had logged off. She decided to browse around the computer to see just what this ancient human tech could do. It was very primitive by galactic standards, partly due to the fact that it was almost 200 years old at this point in time. She tinkered around while she waited.

**Two hours later…**

The Turian C-Sec officer that had her sit and wait finally came over and called her over. "Into this room," he ordered.

Tali complied, not wanting to cause a fuss. She knew that a lot of beings tended to view her race as second-class, and she did not want to do anything to contribute to that reputation. She walked up to only table in the room and put her bags down.

"Sit in that chair while I go through your belongings." The Turian gestured to a chair and then proceeded to dump all of her contents onto the table before her. The few possession she had, including her prized shotgun, were all unceremoniously laid out before her.

Tali was about to protest, but clamped down on her tongue before she could further irritate the officer. Obviously he wasn't looking forward to having to search her stuff, and he every so often would glance up at her to make sure she wasn't sneaking out of her seat or doing something equally ridiculous. She wasn't here to cause trouble, and she wouldn't be the one to make her people have an even worse reputation.

The Turian officer looked suspiciously at the shotgun. It was obviously modded and looked like it could do a lot more damage than the stock model could. "Where'd you get this?" He asked, picking the weapon up.

"I was given it as a present for my Pilgrimage," Tali stammered. She started wringing her hands under the table, unsure of what was going to happen next.

"Well, it's far too dangerous for a vagrant like you to hold onto. I'm not going to let you walk onto the Citadel with such a powerful weapon at your hand. Who knows how many folks you'll rob blind while holding them at gunpoint!" The officer gestured at the weapon again. He opened the bag with the laptop in it and pulled it out onto the table

"And what's this? Who'd you end up stealing this from?" he roared as he leaned across the table to put his face in Tali's visor, spittle spraying across the purple glass.

"I-I got it as a gift as well."

"Hah! That's a likely story, vagrant. You and your kind are a blight on the galaxy. Your Geth are nothing but trouble, with the attack on Eden Prime, although they did the galaxy a favor by attacking a human colony. Why don't all of you just run on back to your mobile homes and stay away from the rest of us?" The Turian was positively off his rocker at this point. He slammed his hands on the table, causing most of the items on it to bounce. Tali instinctively reached for the laptop, trying to keep it from falling off the table.

The C-Sec officer slapped her hand away. "What do you think you're doing? Probably something suspicious. I doubt this thing even works anyhow, so why lug around this piece of junk?" The Turian opened the lid and proceeded to look at the device.

"I can show you how to turn it on..." Tali offered, but her interrogator didn't seem to notice.

"I bet I could make a killing off of this. It looks like it's in really good condition, considering its age, but I wonder who would want such an ancient piece of junk?" He mused to himself. Idly, he pressed a button and the laptop initiated its boot up process. He blinked and then exclaimed, "It works! I can make even more money off of it now."

Tali was getting tired of being interrogated by a racist bigot. She stood up and lunged for the laptop. "That's mine, you bosh'tet! You don't have any right to take it from me! I haven't done anything wrong!"

The Turian batted her aside in midair. "Oh no you don't! I am a C-Sec officer, you're nothing but a lowly beggar and thief. I am the law, and what I say goes. I'm relieving you of your possessions, as you can't be trusted with them, and I'm going to make sure you get what's coming to you." He slowly stalked around the table to where Tali lay. She was too stunned to try to get away.

He hauled her up and threw her bodily into the wall. Tali's vision exploded and swam with stars as she tried to shake off the sudden daze she experienced. The Turian seemed to come to life, and if Tali didn't like how he was looking at her before, she really didn't like the dangerous glint in his eyes now.

The Turian bent over and lifted her up one-handed by her throat. He pushed her into the wall, and got up in her visor. "The cameras are off, and nobody's monitoring me. I'm gonna have some fun with you, you filthy Quarian…"he growled as Tali's vision started to go black. She felt a hand slowly reach its way up towards the locking mechanisms that held her visor in place.

"ALL ABOOOOAAAARD! HAHAHAHAHA!" The laptop suddenly blared, startling both Tali and the Turian. The latter dropped the former, who fell to the floor in a heap. She looked up to see the laptop's screen glowing a blindingly bright red, before a retina-scorching flash consumed the room.

The Turian screamed as his optic nerves overloaded for a few moments. Tali, however, was more fortunate as her visor automatically polarized against the sudden glare. However, her eyes still hurt like she took a flashbang to the face.

When her visor cleared again, the sight before her was startling. A human male, apparently brandishing a sizable amount of firepower, lay in front of the computer. From where she was, she couldn't tell if he was awake or not, but at the very least he was alive.

The Turian continued flailing about as his vision cleared. Once he could see again, he looked towards the laptop and gaped. Where had the human come from? Whirling again on Tali, he screamed, "What trickery have you done this time? A human? Are you begging to be beaten? I'll gladly oblige you, then!" He cocked his arm back to throw a punch at Tali's face. It never came.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice growled behind the Turian's head. The officer spun around to face the speaker. It was the human that appeared near the laptop, and he was holding the Turian's arm back with one hand.

"You just made the wrong choice. You are hereby charged with obstruction of justice. You must be my lucky charm, because now I get to deliver my own remedies to my two least favorite races in the galaxy!" The Turian swung his other arm towards the human's head to punch him in the temple.

The punch caught air. The human simply stepped inside the punch and using the Turian's other arm as leverage, pivoted around, hurling him over his shoulder in the process. The officer crashed into the table, knocking it over. However, to his credit, was still able to roll out of the throw, albeit a little awkwardly. By the time he got up, however, the human was all over him, throwing a withering flurry of blows. All the officer could do was back up and continue to block the human's attacks. The human's form was superb, never leaving himself open long enough for the opening to be exploited.

The next thing the Turian knew, a straight jab came out of nowhere, smacking him squarely in between the mandibles. Howling in pain, he slumped against the wall, only to get boxed on the sides of his head. Before he could recover, however, the human delivered a crushing uppercut to his chin, which knocked the officer to the floor, in a daze.

The human then seemed to take in his surroundings and was stunned for a minute. He grabbed the Turian by the collar and yelled, "Where am I? What's the date?"

The Turian, still dazed, mumbled, "Citadel…Galactic date 25.43…"

The human only seemed to get more frustrated. "No, not that. What **human** year?" He shook the Turian as if that would help him find out.

"21…83…" came the barely coherent reply. At this point the human let out a gasp and dropped the Turian. He gathered himself again and then punched the Turian where a human's temple would be, just to make sure he was out cold.

Tali was stunned. Though she hadn't really seen many humans up close, she could tell by the way this one handled himself that he knew what he was doing and was in control of the situation. He effortlessly barreled through the Turian's defenses and took him down like it was just another day in his life.

He turned around slowly, pausing as his gaze fell across the laptop. He looked at it for a bit then faced her. "You okay?" he asked as he offered a hand to her. She took it and he pulled her to her feet.

She replied, "Yes, thank you."

The man smiled at her when he heard that. "Keelah Se'lai, miss…?" He cocked his head inquisitively.

Tali was speechless for a moment. Few people actually acknowledged her, let alone speak politely to her, and even fewer would address her with a Khelish phrase. Although it wasn't technically used as a greeting, she appreciated the gesture.

"Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya." Now it was the human's turn to be speechless for a minute. He tried to keep his jaw from hitting the ground, but at the moment that was like trying to outrun a bullet.

Tali started getting embarrassed from how much the human was staring at her. She broke eye contact and then took in how the man was dressed. Shirt and pants with a funny pattern to them, boots, a ridiculous amount of what looked like ancient ammunition for equally-ancient weapons, and a floppy-brimmed hat. She was amazed that the hat didn't seem to budge at all during the fist fight.

The man visibly shook himself, and sheepishly ran a hand through the back of his hair. "You must think I'm crazy right now. I've never seen a Quarian in person before. I'm Daniel. Daniel White," he said as he offered his hand for a shake.

Thankfully, Tali knew what the gesture meant and she shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Daniel. And thank you for stopping that officer."

Daniel chuckled. "Not a problem. Though…I dunno how the hell I ended up here. One moment I'm in my apartment talking—" At that moment four C-Sec officers decided they were going to bust down the door to the interrogation room and charge in.

Daniel reacted faster than Tali had thought possible. One moment he was standing in front of her, the next thing she knew she had the wind knocked out of her and she was behind the knocked over table. Daniel had pulled an ancient-looking pistol out and was just out of cover enough to have drawn a bead on the officers who were only now starting to enter the door.

"Drop your weapon and put your hands in the air!" one of the Turian C-Sec officers shouted. There were four officers, all with pistols drawn. Only two of them had a clear line of sight to Daniel, but they fanned out quickly. The two humans were trying to flank Daniel while the two Turians were standing closer to the doorway. Tali saw her shotgun lying too far away for her to conceivably grab it without taking fire from multiple angles. She'd have to leave the defense to her savior.

Daniel allowed his peripheral vision to track all of the officers at the same time. "Right, and you're just gonna shoot me soon's I drop my gun," was his reply.

"We saw what you did to the officer, and we won't tolerate assaulting a law enforcement officer! You were obstructing his interrogation of that Quarian you have with you."

"I call bullshit. He was about to beat her, and last I checked, that's not a simple interrogation. You're gonna let a racist bigot walk away like that?" Daniel roared back at the officers.

The C-Sec officers each thumbed their pistols' safeties off and Daniel could hear the high-pitched whine of their mass accelerators spooling up. He prepared for a firefight that would probably end up getting him killed as he was both at a numerical and tactical disadvantage. That table wouldn't stop more than a few shots at best, none at worst. And to make matters worse, he didn't have any armor.

"That's enough out of all of you. Really, I leave you alone for a few minutes and you're about to blow everyone's brains out." A familiar form hobbled in through the doorway. The two C-Sec officers spun around to aim at the new arrival, while the other two continued to keep their weapons leveled squarely at Daniel.

Tali poked her head out of cover and her mouth opened in surprise. "What are you doing here?" she and Daniel asked at the same time.

The old man grinned like the proverbial Cheshire Cat and turned to the officers. "Now if you folks would be so kind as to lower your weapons, I'd much appreciate it. I can handle it from here."

The officer closest to the old man, a grizzled-looking human, replied, "Sir, I'm sorry but I'm going to need to see some credentials and ID."

A hearty laugh was the old man's only reply. "So typical and untrusting, but here you are all the same." He typed a few commands into his omnitool and a screen popped up on the officer's, showing the old man's picture and his credentials.

After glancing at the credentials on his screen, the officer promptly told his squad to stand down. He focused on the old man again. "I'm sorry, sir. Didn't realize that you—" he was cut off by the old man's reply.

Laughing, the old man replied, "Don't worry about it, sonny. Young people these days are so jumpy and suspicious of everyone else. I guess it's a sign of the times. You may leave now. I wish to speak with these young folk in private. Also, could you do something about that misguided colleague of yours? I think he could use a good talking to after this little incident."

"Sir, would you like someone to stay outside the room in case anything goes wrong?"

The old man shook his head. "That won't be necessary. I've dealt with them before. Just make sure they won't be bothered after they leave here." With a wave of his hand he dismissed the officer. The officer nodded and then worked with his squad to remove the unconscious Turian from the room.

After their footsteps receded from hearing, Daniel leveled his pistol at the old man. "Is this all some kind of joke? What are you trying to pull on me here?"

Tali freaked out when she saw Daniel aim at the old man, and tried to get Daniel to lower his gun. "What did he do to you?" Completely confused, she looked at the old man and asked, "What did you do to him?"

The old man didn't flinch when he heard Daniel pull back the hammer. He said to Daniel, "I told you that you were needed. You know I'm telling the truth. You merely got to where you needed to be. But you want more of an explanation right now, don't you?"

Daniel sighed and nodded. He asked, "So why me? And how the hell am I here, exactly?"

Tom looked back at him and said, "Well here's the deal. I know you know enough about what's going on. Your skills are needed in order to give us a better chance. I can't tell you more than that at this point in time."

"I guess it's real then, isn't it?" he asked nobody in particular as he reholstered his Colt. Tali cocked her head at him, completely confused.

"Daniel, what's he talking about?"she asked.

Daniel looked back at her and replied, "All I know is that he was at my apartment, put some guys in a stasis field, and then my laptop flashed bright red and the next thing I know in here and there's a bigoted Turian about to smash your faceplate in."

The old man chuckled and spoke before anyone else could ask another question. "I nearly forgot! I took the liberty of getting you a few things as a welcoming present for your first visit to the Citadel." He typed a few commands into his omnitool and a few moments later a few officers came in holding a crate between them.

One of the officers said, "Here's the package, sir." And then they all walked out of the room.

Daniel opened the crate and almost had an explosive nosebleed. Inside the crate was a set of armor, but it was more advanced than anything he'd seen in the game. He'd read about how in the PC version of Mass Effect there were hidden armor vendors with armor that would shame even the mighty Colossus series. This was one of them.

"Hahne-Kedar Skunkworks?" Daniel gaped and stared at Tom, who merely chuckled and gestured for him to put it on.

"It's still in the prototype phase. I have some connections, and I want you to have nothing but the best. You'll still be able to have your holsters and things on the armor. I thought you'd do well with Medium armor. You can still take a lot of punishment, but it won't interfere with your mobility as much as Heavy would." Tom went on about the armor as Daniel put it on over his fatigues. It was a perfect fit.

Tom crowed and had to hold a wall for support. "I'm glad I got a good guess of your size from meeting you. You've got one more gift waiting for you." Daniel had finished armoring up at this point, and looked inside the crate. One section that was previously covered by parts of the armor was still boxed in. He opened it up and nearly fainted.

Daniel looked back to Tom and asked, "How the hell did you acquire a Cain?" He gingerly picked up the heavy weapon and attached it to the back of his armor.

Tom guffawed and once more held onto the wall for support. "I know people in all the right places. Both the armor and weapon have a small modification. The Cain's uncharged right now, but as long as it's stored on your armor, the armor's built-in piezoelectric generators will slowly charge it up. As the system's based off of movement, the more you move, the faster it charges. It charges up at about a rate of five percent per mile walked, but you can probably get it to over twenty percent per mile if you're running. You already know just how much energy this weapon requires.

"By the way, whenever you feel like leaving, just follow the arrows out! You've already been given clearance to leave. Be careful, but have fun!" With that, Tom hobbled out of the room and out of their lives again.

Tali looked at Daniel in all of his newly-armored glory. He looked very similar, somehow. Hadn't the guy she chatted with also have the same name? She was about to ask her question when Daniel directed one of his own at her.

"Tali, where did you get that?" he asked, pointing to the laptop.

"The old ma—err, Tom, gave it to me. Why?" she replied.

"That's my laptop. I don't know how you got a hold of it…wait, you know what? It's Tom. Not a lot that he does makes sense." He resumed attaching his weapons to his armor.

"Are you the one I was contacting earlier today?" Tali blurted out before she could stop herself.

Daniel turned back around and chuckled. He replied, "Yes, Tali, I do believe it was me that was talking to you."

Tali was dumbstruck. How could a laptop teleport a heavily-armed man? But then again, Tom was involved, and freighters like Tom's don't simply disappear from their berth mere moments after one disembarks.

Daniel had moved over to inspect the laptop. "It's just like it was when I last saw it…" He noticed that the power cord had been modified, but he wasn't surprised in the slightest. The fact that the computer didn't appear to be weathered by time baffled him a little bit. After a moment, he shook his head and got up.

"Tali, let's take advantage of the free pass we just got and get the hell outta here. How's about we grab some food as we explore the Citadel proper?" Daniel asked as he helped Tali put her things back into her bags.

"You'd do that? Even with my people's reputation?"

Daniel started walking towards the door as he looked over his shoulder to look at Tali. "Course I would. You seem to be an upstanding representative of your people, and you haven't given me a reason not to trust you. Shall we?"

"Yes. Let's." Together, they walked out of the interrogation room to see what the Citadel was all about.


	8. Chapter 7: Hindrances

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the long delay, school and the multitude of extra stuff I've been doing on the side's sorta eaten all my spare time up. Got this chapter done, sorry that it's a wee bit short but we hope you like this chapter.**

**As always, please review if you feel so inclined. Thanks!  
**

To say the Citadel was amazing was a massive understatement. Daniel and Tali looked around like children in a candy store as they took in the sights around them. Each of them gawked at how beautiful the station was. The holovids and pics that Tali had seen didn't do it justice, and Daniel thought that Bioware definitely were the biggest teases ever. The Citadel in the game paled in comparison to the awe-inspiring size of the station. They exited out into the Wards somewhere. 'This ward doesn't look like Zakera…maybe we're on Tayseri?' Daniel mused as they walked around.

They soon found themselves at a balcony that overlooked the arm that their Ward was based on, and could see the other four arms above them. The sight truly was intimidating and awe-inspiring at the same time. Daniel found himself feeling more than a little disoriented thinking that going up far enough meant down at the same time. Tali, however, was just floored by how large the station was. However, she wasn't so impressed with the apparently inefficient way with which its denizens stored materials. There was so much space above their heads that could be used for storing equipment and other things that wouldn't be needed for a while!

The pair walked around for a few hours, exploring the various shops and places there were to see. After a while they sat down in a secluded part of the Wards, away from the rest of the crowds where nobody would bother them for a while. Tali looked at the massive heavy weapon on Daniel's back and asked, "So what exactly is that weapon that Tom gave you?"

Daniel looked back at her and then pulled it off of his back. "It's the M-920 Cain. It's a heavy weapon more commonly known as a 'nuke launcher.' The weapon shoots a piece of metal much larger than other mass-accelerated weapons use. That shot makes a massive explosion when it hits something. I'd reckon it could vaporize everything from here to that far wall," he replied, gesturing to the wall in question, which was a good 20 meters away.

Tali nodded and thought about what he said. She piped up a few moments later. "I guess it uses a computer just like the regular mass-accelerated ones use?"

He nodded and turned it around in his hands. "Yeah, so far's I know. I think I remember its specs saying it lobbed a 25-gram round at 5 klicks a second?"

"Click?" Tali tilted her head, obviously confused by the term. Her dictionary translated it as a quick sound, but had nothing to offer in the current conversation's context.

Dan chuckled as he realized his term didn't come across right. "Klick, with a k. Short for a kilometer," he explained, and was pleased to see that Tali understood the term now.

"That's got to have a massive power draw…how many shots can it fire with its energy cells?"

"This one's probably a stock model, save for the energy siphon system Tom installed. I'd say no more than one shot on a full charge. I've heard of modded ones that could fire two shots on a full charge."

Tali gaped. That much energy for a single shot? You'd have to really make it count because there weren't any redoes available. But you wouldn't need that much power on a regular basis, right…?

She looked at the weapon and held her hands out for it. After Daniel looked at her rather confusedly, she asked, "Could I see it? I think I just came up with a way to mod it and make it more practical than a one-shot wonder."

Daniel handed her the weapon without a moment's hesitation, but was curious as to what she was going to do. He sat there and watched as Tali interfaced her omni-tool with the weapon and then proceeded to tinker.

A few minutes later she finally looked up from her work. She was incredibly pleased with her work as she launched into a rambling explanation. "You mentioned how the weapon is capable of firing a single shot of immense power, but that it barely has enough energy storage in there for more than a few shots. I tinkered with the onboard computer so you can adjust the power level based on the target. At the lowest power setting, you'll be firing shots that are roughly equivalent to that of an anti-materiel rifle, and roughly at the same fire rate too. You will be able to get more shots out of the power cell but I don't know exactly how many. I think the charge time should also be significantly reduced the lower the power setting is, so that'll be handy. However, the weapon's obviously not designed to be used like this, so be careful. I don't know what long term negative effects it might have."

Daniel chuckled and looked at the modified layout on the weapon's control screen. There were now a bunch of options to choose from in terms of power. Even the lowest power setting would be more than enough to stop the average grunt dead in his or her tracks. However, he didn't know how he was going to aim it. There weren't any sights that he could see. "Uhh, Tali? How am I gonna aim this thing if it doesn't have any sights?"

Tali stared at him and then dragged one hand down across her visor in the quarian version of a facepalm. "Of course! That weapon wasn't meant for precision shots, just aim in the general direction and shoot, right? Let me look at it again, I think I can interface its targeting systems with your helmet's HUD." She fiddled around with her omni-tool again and the Cain's displays changed around again.

A few moments later, she finished with the newest mods and installed a copy into her own suit's systems. "Here you go. The program I'm transferring to your omni-tool has been linked to the weapon's targeting systems. You'll see a crosshair on your HUD where it's pointing. Could be handy even using it while in cover," she said.

Daniel followed Tali's direction and uploaded the program to his hardsuit's computer. As soon as he brought the Cain online, he saw a little reticle that showed where the heavy weapon pointed. It also showed him the current charge level, power setting, and how many shots were left on that setting. Tom had given the weapon to them completely uncharged, so right now he had enough energy for a single shot on the lowest power setting, but he should have charged enough for a second shot soon. It wasn't too bad, but he would have an interesting time getting used to the new layout.

After toying with the setup for a bit, Daniel put the Cain back on his armor and got up. He turned around and offered a hand to Tali. "Shall we?" he asked. She took his hand and he hauled her to her feet. After a moment they got into a Citadel Rapid Transit and headed to one of the other Wards to see what there was to see.

**A few hours later…**

This new Ward seemed a lot more familiar to Daniel, much more like the Wards seen in the first Mass Effect. However, as they walked through the crowds, Daniel felt something was off. He couldn't place a finger on it, but something was setting off his mental alarms. Tali didn't seem to notice anything so he took a look around them. He noticed a few people moving purposefully towards them while trying to remain discreet. The average person wouldn't have picked up on that even with their matching armor as they were dispersed throughout the crowd. Daniel, due to his prior training, was able to pick up on their movements. The paint schemes suggested mercenaries, but he didn't know which company they came from. Regardless, they didn't look like they wanted to welcome them to the Citadel and have a friendly chat.

Nudging Tali forward, he said, "There are some people that look like they're after us. Let's try to lose them."

She looked back at him, and said, "I don't see anyone…"

"It's because you're short."

"I have a shotgun…"

"So do I. Let's keep moving."

The pair moved forward and tried to lose their pursuers by moving further into the crowd, but a quarian isn't the easiest to conceal in a crowd. Especially when she's accompanied by a tall, heavily- armored human. Daniel looked around and couldn't see an easy way to get away from the mercenaries except for an alleyway up ahead. He pushed Tali forward and told her, "I think we can lose them in that alley over there. It's our only chance."

They were almost in the alley when one of the mercs saw that they had changed course. "That's the quarian! Get her!" he barked to his teammates.

The chase began. Daniel ran behind Tali so he could cover their retreat. He pulled out his Colt 1911 again and looked behind him. The first merc had entered the alleyway and was about to bring his weapon up. Daniel slipped into the zone and time stood still as he took aim and placed a .45 slug square through the batarian's head.

One of the mercs saw his comrade go down and barked, "They're armed! Kinetic barriers up!" Four mercs charged into the alley at the same time. Daniel cursed himself and entered the zone again. He had to be quick if he were going to keep them from hitting Tali while she was still running towards cover. His Colt spat out its remaining six bullets, all of which found their mark. He quickly reholstered his now-empty pistol and brought his trench gun to bear.

The four mercenaries were completely unfazed by the .45 caliber slugs. The 12-gauge buckshot that Daniel's trench gun hurled at them didn't fare that well, either. Daniel quickly brought his M2 carbine around and unloaded the clip at one of the mercs. His shields flickered and died as Daniel's weapon spent its last round. Unfortunately for him, his concentration had reached its limit and he dropped out of the zone once again.

"Fucking hell, these weapons are crap!" Daniel bellowed as he charged forward, brandishing his Ka-Bar combat knife. The mercs hesitated for a moment. Nobody in their right mind would charge four fully-armed mercs with only a melee weapon, right?

Daniel had closed the distance by half by the time the mercs regained their senses and unloaded. However, to their dismay, his kinetic barriers absorbed their combined fire. And then he was amongst them, a dervish of agony and cases of whoop-ass being unloaded on the poor grunts.

Most of the fighters in this day and age had long since forgotten the skills of true hand to hand combat. These days, it seemed that the most close-quarters a fight ever got was one person on the receiving end of a weapon bash, such as a rifle stock or a pistol butt. Nobody knew how to handle someone who used their bodies and momentum against them, much less someone who really knew his shit in this area.

Tali stopped and turned around when she heard the gunfire. She turned to see Daniel go through weapon after weapon, only to realize that none of them worked. By the time she had pulled out her shotgun, Daniel had already started charging towards the mercs. There was no way she could risk firing a shot now as doing so would probably catch Daniel in the shot's spread. Tech grenades wouldn't help either because they would not only hurt the mercs but they'd catch Daniel in the blast as well. She was going to dive for cover, but Daniel had closed the distance and was in the midst of the mercs by the time she had made that decision. Instead, she stood transfixed as she watched the carnage unfold.

Daniel was a supreme hand to hand specialist. His skills showed just how much of an edge he had against these four grunts. The first one to attack, a Batarian, did what he always did to end a CQC (close quarters combat) fight. He slammed his assault rifle butt at Daniel's head…only to find that his weapon struck air. Daniel had stepped inside the blow and did a quick assault on the Batarian's exposed neck while he moved around behind the merc so that none of his teammates could shoot at him without risking friendly fire. One slash across each side of the neck to open up major blood vessels, and a thrust straight through the back of the neck to break the trachea, or the Batarian equivalent. The flurry took only a second and then he moved on to the next one.

The second merc, a human, upon realizing his comrade was dead, unloaded with his shotgun, hoping his shells would pierce through the corpse and hit the assailant behind them. However, he hadn't expected the body to be hurled at him and was unprepared as a result. He and his former teammate fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs, both warm and rapidly-cooling.

The final two mercs, one turian and the other human, took this opportunity to fire wildly at Daniel while he rushed them. A few struck his shields but most of them went just a hair wide as they didn't take the time to properly line their shots up.

Daniel slid to the ground and kicked the turian's legs out from under him. As the merc fell, he directed his attention to the remaining merc and, batting the poor sap's pistol hand to the side, sliced his throat wide open. He then pulled the pistol out of the dead man's hands and proceeded to stand on the downed turian's throat and fire three point-blank shots at the merc's forehead. At this range, kinetic barriers were paper for all the good they did at stopping the accelerated slugs from going straight through the turian's head.

At this point, the second merc had finally untangled himself and got up, only to get a shotgun blast square in the back, courtesy of Tali. He fell over and a moment later his neck had a quick and forceful meet and greet with the bottom of Daniel's boot. The results were not pleasant.

Cleaning his blade of blood and resheathing it, Daniel grabbed and holstered his commandeered pistol as he walked towards Tali. "Good shot there, I appreciate the backup. Dunno if my shields would've lasted much longer," he said as he grinned at her.

Tali was about to reply when Daniel suddenly sprinted at her and shoved her forcefully to the side. She crashed into a few boxes, which weren't the most yielding of materials. "Keelah, Da—" she started exclaiming when the distinct crack of a sniper rifle broke through her complaint. She saw Daniel jerk backwards and fall over.

Mustering her courage, she used her omni-tool to briefly boost her shields to well over their maximum capacity. The boost would only last for a few seconds, but that would be long enough. She got up and charged towards Daniel. Without checking his vitals, she picked up the Cain off of his back and looked towards where the shot had come from.

She saw a lone sniper standing at the end of the alleyway. Tali started to bring the Cain online as the sniper fired the first shot off. It was stopped by her kinetic barriers, but just barely. However, it looked like the merc's sniper rifle was overheating so now it was a race against time. Whoever would be able to land the next shot would win the encounter. Tali saw that the Cain had enough charge for two minimum shots, so she kept the weapon on its lowest power setting. She started charging it up as she brought the crosshairs on her HUD to hover right over the sniper's figure.

The sniper apparently had forgotten about the necessities of cover while his weapon was cooling down, and finally got his weapon back online as Tali lined him up in her sights. He leveled his weapon and pulled the trigger just as a bright flare erupted from the end of Tali's weapon.

The two shells tore downrange at each other. By virtue of the fact that their targets were each other, the two rounds flew straight at each other. The larger shell of the Cain deflected the sniper rifle's trajectory by the sheer mass effect field that surrounded it, causing the smaller bullet to go wide while it stayed on course and blew a hole the size of a krogan's head through the salarian's torso. The sniper was dead before he hit the ground.

After realizing the sniper had fallen, Tali lowered the Cain and turned around to run to Daniel. He was still very much alive, but the sniper round had pierced through his shoulder. He looked at her and smirked. "Nice shooting there. Glad ya evened the score," he grunted.

Tali quickly started to prepare one of her few doses of medigel when Daniel's hand grasped her arm. "Don't waste it on me, it's not that bad. Save it for when one of us might really need it. 'Sides, I've been hit worse 'n that," his smirk got bigger.

"If you say so, Daniel." She offered her hand so he could get to his feet. He easily hauled himself up from the ground. After a moment he quirked an eyebrow at her. Looking down, she realized she still was holding onto his hand and quickly released it. Daniel smirked at her reaction, but didn't comment, much to her relief.

"We'd better get outta here before C-Sec arrives. I doubt you wanna visit the inside of an interrogation room so soon after the last time," he said as he started to walk out of the alleyway. She followed a moment later.

After walking only a minute or two, Daniel's walking became more labored. He staggered and stumbled forwards unsteadily for a few steps before Tali grabbed him and threw his good arm over her shoulder for support. His face was more drawn than it was a little while ago.

"Daniel, are you alright? You don't look to good," she commented.

"Heh, I think that shot definitely cut through some bone. It's hurting like a motherfucker."

Tali cocked her head. The term didn't make it through her translator at all. Daniel laughed, but stopped as the pain in his shoulder flared up, suggesting he shouldn't laugh. "Oh Tali, don't make me laugh, it hurts! The term's probably similar to the phrase—**bosh'tet**? I think that's it?" He looked at her for a response.

"Keelah, Daniel! Don't say that so loud! People will look more strangely at us than they already are…" Tali said as she looked around. Sure enough, people were staring at them, but probably because of the fact that a heavily armored human was leaning on a quarian for support. She didn't like all the attention they were garnering.

Daniel chuckled and winced. "Something wrong with folks looking at us? But seriously, motherfucker is used as an insult like bosh'tet but it's much more severe. Sorta part of human culture to be proud of our parents, so any sorta insult is taken personally. You say call a human that and that'll 'em pissed off in a hurry."

They walked a bit further before Daniel grunted and looked at his shoulder. "Tali, I think we should find a med clinic soon. Any idea where one is?" he asked her lightheartedly.

Tali stared at him. "And you're asking me because…?"

"No reason. Let's ask one of those vendors over yonder."

The two walked over to an excitable-looking salarian. "Ah, welcome to Morlan's famous shop! We have many good supplies, come and see!" he exclaimed to Tali and Daniel as they approached.

"My good friend, perhaps another time. We were actually wondering if you knew where the closest med clinic would be?"

"You certainly asked the right salarian! There's one very close by. Dr. Michel's clinic has the best rate this side of the Presidium!" Morlan quickly relayed how to get to Dr. Michel's clinic, but Daniel only half listened. The doctor's name sent a chill down his spine, and he made a mental note to ask Tali about it later. They quickly said their goodbyes and headed down the way.

Daniel glanced at Tali as they walked towards the med clinic. "Tali, something's been bothering me. The mercs seemed to be looking for you. Do you know why they were?"

Tali's stride faltered for a moment before returning to normal. "Daniel, I think they were after the data on my omni-tool…"

He now looked at her more intently. "What data do you have?"

Tali looked around nervously. Without thinking, she started wringing her hands together. She took a deep breath and then started speaking. "Earlier in my Pilgrimage, I stumbled across a group of Geth patrolling out beyond the Perseus Veil. I was curious, and managed to isolate one of the Geth from the rest of the group and disabled it. I was able to recover some data from its memory core that clearly convicts someone of attacking a place called 'Eden Prime.' Apparently that data is extremely important."

Daniel picked up the pace a bit. "We need to get to that med clinic and find a place to go to ground for a while. I doubt those mercs will be the last we'll see before all of this is over." Tali nodded her agreement and they hurried towards Dr. Michel's clinic.

**15 minutes later**…

Daniel and Tali arrived at the med clinic. A redhead in a doctor's coat was tending to a patient lying on a bed, but turned around as soon as she was finished to greet the newcomers. As soon as she saw the hole in Daniel's shoulder, she rushed over.

"You can tell me your names later, but for now I need to see how bad the damage is. Help me get the armor off," she said as she gestured for Tali to assist her. Tali interfaced with the hardsuit's onboard computer to allow them to take the armor plates off of Daniel's arm. They also detached the undersuit's sleeve so that the wound was completely exposed.

Dr. Michel quickly scanned the hole with her omni-tool and tutted at Daniel, "You really should have put some medigel on here. It's a wonder you haven't passed out from the pain, though. The bullet clipped your shoulder joint on its way out, so you'll need to be careful until it heals."

Daniel grinned at her, saying, "I didn't think the wound was bad enough to require medigel. I've suffered far worse injuries than this one."

The doctor quirked an eyebrow at him. "I'm sure you have. Now if you'll hold still I can fix you up. These are specialized versions of medigel that allow you to continue doing what you've been doing while healing up your injuries at the same time. I came up with the right blend myself, so I doubt you've ever had the pleasure of having a treatment like this."

Daniel chuckled, "No ma'am, I sure haven't had that before. Mighty fine job you did there. Feels like it's already starting to work." He slowly moved his arm so as not to damage his arm more.

Tali glanced at the door again. Dan noticed she started wringing her hands together: a sure sign of how nervous she was. She looked over to Dr. Michel and asked, "Dr. Michel, I was wondering if you knew anyone that would be willing to trade safety for some information?"

Dr. Michel turned to her and said in a low voice, "You must be careful about what you say here. I do know of some people that could help you, they all work for the Shadow Broker, the king of information brokering. What information do you have that makes you want to try to barter for safety?"

Tali looked at the ground for a moment before responding, "I can't tell you that, but it's very big news. We're currently being hunted down and want to get this information away as soon as we can."

Daniel added, "The sooner we can trade the information, the better. I dunno when our luck's gonna run out. We can pay you for your troubles."

Dr. Michel waved off the offer of money. "Please, I don't need any extra credits. Just 75 credits for the treatment will suffice. As for who I can get you in touch with, there's a man named Fist, he runs the 'gentleman's club,' Chora's Den. If anyone asks, just tell them Chloe sent you. He owes me a few favors anyhow."

Daniel and Tali thanked the doctor for her help and paid her the credits she asked for. She gave them direction on how to reach Chora's Den, and they went off.

As they walked, Daniel had a sense of foreboding, thinking about the upcoming meeting. 'Do I tell Tali about Fist or do I let everything play out?' he thought. He looked over at Tali, who was trying to keep up her vigilance while still looking around with starry eyes at the crowds and sights there were to see. He decided he'd just let them meet, and then figure out what to do.


	9. Chapter 8: Flight

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay, but both Sarge and I have been swamped with school, and finals are only days away so we'll probably not be able to update again for a while. For those of you who have stuck by with us, thanks for the support! We'll be trucking on with (hopefully) quicker updates as we enter the break. So without further ado, here's the next chapter. And if it so pleases you, read and review!**

Daniel stood at the weapons kiosk, scanning the crowds of people that seemed to wander aimlessly across the Upper Markets area. He was still on edge after the earlier fight with the would-be assassins, and was alert for another attempt. Thankfully, it seemed as if Saren's hitmen had learned their lesson. He turned back towards the merchant, but kept his eyes on a piece of reflective glass he had planted up ahead to watch his back.

"Hello Earth-clan, you've just returned from the colonies?" the short creature craned its neck to look up at him. Daniel's hand flickered closer to his recently...borrowed...pistol, as a group of armed beings walked past him. He relaxed slightly as they passed by without any trouble.

"Uh…yeah. We could use some supplies." Daniel motioned for Tali to join him. She stepped up next to him, just as tense as he was. There were here now because Daniel knew exactly what would happen when they went to Fist, and he wasn't about to go in with only Tali's shotgun, an undercharged Cain, and a merc's crappy pistol as their only weapons. He had been saddened to part with his old weaponry, but he knew it was necessary if he wanted to survive in this world.

"Excellent. I have a great selection of armors. My weapons are of a high quality as well." the volus took in deep breaths between each sentence, slowing what would normally be a quick exchange. His weapons had fetched a price far more reasonable than he could have ever hoped, nearly nine million credits. He had decided to let Tali keep the laptop, seeing as she was the rightful owner now. All he wanted to do with it was copy his music library from it to his omni-tool, and then she could do with it whatever she wanted.

"Have you got any quarian armor?" he asked, looking at the ragged and worn condition of Tali's current suit. This prompted her to turn her head sharply towards him, but she didn't say anything. The volus seemed startled for a moment, but quickly recovered.

"I believe I have a few sets in at the moment, allow me to check." It waddled towards the back of the kiosk. Tali turned to speak to him then.

"I don't need any-"she began, before Dan cut her off with an abrupt wave of the hand.

"Yes, you do. It's alright to let someone get you a gift every now and then, you know. That suit of yours isn't much good for combat. Anyway, I was gonna get you a better one regardless," he said firmly, indicating that there would be no compromise. Tali sighed in defeat.

"Well, if I can't convince you otherwise, I may as well thank you, Daniel. I appreciate you doing this for me," she told him. Daniel's response was a face-lighting smile.

"I have two different sets in stock, Earth-clan. One is a basic model, the other is one of the Colossus series," the volus informed him. He could see Tali looking over at him, shaking her head.

"I'll take the Colossus," he said cheerfully, causing Tali to gasp.

"Don't you know how much a set of that armor costs?" she exclaimed. He turned to her with a shit-eating grin.

"Of course I do. Your point is?" Tali was rendered speechless. Daniel handed over the credit chip as Tali looked on in shock. The volus passed over the armor crate, and Daniel handed it to Tali. "We can head back to the Clinic in a minute so that you can change suits. I'm going to get us a few weapons," he said, turning back to the volus. Before he could speak, another voice piped up.

"Well my boy, that's not quite necessary!" a cheerful and aged voice spoke up from behind the two of them. Daniel groaned and face palmed, but turned to face Tom.

"And why not?" he asked, waiting for the old man to astound him some new way.

"Because of this." Tom gestured to the small floating cart—or whatever it was—that he was pulling behind him. He pulled it up next to Dan, and stepped up alongside him and Tali. A large, no, a very large crate took up the space on the hovercraft. Tom entered a complex code into it, and the top half hissed open. When Daniel saw what was inside the box, he turned pale and grabbed the cart and its owner and dragged them both over into the shadows.

"Do you know what you have here?" he hissed, staring down at the arsenal below him while Tali looked at the two from the stand in confusion.

"I know very well what I have, Daniel. Let's not forget it was me who brought you here," Tom said seriously, looking down at the weapons. Daniel slowly reached down and pulled out the one he recognized so well. The ACR felt different in his hands, somewhat lighter, with a new balance. It looked almost the same, but it was slightly bulged at the center of the weapon, where he assumed the mass accelerator was located.

"Rebuilt them myself. Gave me something to do," Tom said pleasantly. Dan stared at the cool blue status lights dotting the newly-refurbished weapon. His gaze drifted over to the other weapons, from the Saiga 12 auto-shotgun to the Barrett .50, the .44 Magnum, and a sniper rifle that was so strange that he didn't recognize it at first. All had the same oversized feature in their chambers. After gazing at the unknown rifle for a moment longer, he realized it was a SR-25, a sturdy and compact rifle, used by SOCOM forces for special operations.

The reason for the temporary confusion was a very valid one. This rifle was most definitely custom-made, sporting a deep purple paint job with black swirled lines, and inscribed symbols that Dan had never seen before. Now this gun was indeed a truly beautiful one.

"What's going on over here..." Tali started, but her voice trailed off as soon as she set her eyes upon the arsenal. Dan could say for a fact that he was surprised that her eyes didn't pop out of her head. "Oh..." was all she could manage, not even blinking. Dan looked back to Tom, who seemed to be enjoying the fruits of his labor.

"They're all high-quality weapons, as Daniel here can vouch. I completely overhauled each of them. In fact, I even have a special one for you, Miss Zorah." he said, taking the SR-25 out of the case and handing it over to her. She fumbled with the unusual weapon, gripping it in her hands. She stared down at it inquisitively, then looked back at Tom suspiciously.

"Where exactly did you get these?" she asked.

"I've been around awhile, seen a lot of things, and I hold onto things that could prove valuable." he said, another one of those smiles that said 'I have a joke going that only I know about' on his face.

Daniel groaned in annoyance. This guy was getting really creepy...just who was he?

"I'll admit, those are pretty good weapons. I don't know how they'd stack up with these mods though," he said slowly, gauging the reaction of the other two individuals. Tali seemed even more interested in the weapons...but as usual, Tom's face was unfathomable.

"You don't need to worry about that, my boy. These weapons are about on par with Cerberus Skunkworks equipment, if I do say so myself," Tom remarked, eying the weapons again. Daniel thought back, to what else he'd read about PC command suppliers. Skunkworks weapons were of very good quality, right up there with H&K Shadow Works and Spectre Master Gear, if behind by only a little bit.

"Cerberus?" Tali said curiously. Daniel turned to Tom, who only offered him a tentative shrug.

"I get the feeling my dear that you'll be very familiar with them by the time this is all over. All you need to know for now is that they're a top secret Alliance black-ops organization, with the highest level of secrecy and clearance," Tom said. And with that, Daniel marked him higher on his 'who to watch out for' list.

The old man seemed to stare off into the distance again, something that was really starting to unnerve both Daniel and Tali, but he snapped back to the present after just a moment.

"Well, I've got to get on my way. I'll be talking to you later, Dan, Tali. Keelah Se'lai." and Tom turned and vanished back into the crowd of pedestrians of various races. Dan shook his head, and turned back to Tali, who was still staring at the SR-25 in her arms.

"I've never used one of these." she said bluntly, holding it awkwardly. Dan chuckled, before hitting the compaction button on the ACR and slipping it into its magnetic holster on his back.

"I guess I'll be teaching you, then." he said humorously as he finished holstering the rest of his weapons. The weight of firearms he'd trained with comforted him more than he'd ever expected them to, and he popped his neck. Tali finally slipped the sniper rifle over her shoulder, and it automatically locked onto the magnetic plate.

"Until then, I believe we have a meeting with Fist?" she asked, crossing her arms. Daniel nodded, and the two stepped out of the shadows and returned to the vendor to pick up Tali's armor. Their next stop was the med clinic, where Tali stepped into the clean room to switch suits. Daniel took up a seat outside, keeping a watchful eye on the clinic door.

**30 minutes later…**

"Whadda ya want?" a gruff human voice echoed in the small side room. Daniel stood tall, not intimidated. Tali stood behind him, a wary eye watching both the bouncers and the patrons themselves. Daniel's hand rested on the grip of the .44, just in case things started going downhill.

"I'm here to see Fist. We've got information for the Shadow Broker, high quality stuff," he responded curtly. The man seemed to think over it for a moment, before turning to the door and unlocking it. He turned back to Dan and Tali, and gave them a mistrustful look.

"Any funny business and you two disappear, forever. Understood?" Dan nodded silently, and the man motioned for them to follow him. They walked behind him down the small hallway, taking a turn and arriving at another locked door. The man stepped up to an intercom, and pressed the button.

"Boss, we've got potential sellers. Want to see 'em?" The three waited for a moment before a voice responded.

"If they're being straight, yes. If not, have Dax bury them in the deck. And you'll be right next to them," the harsh response came. The guard visibly paled.

"Of course, boss." The door turned green, and Dan stepped up, only to be stopped by the guard.

"You're gonna have to leave those guns here, boy," he said, trying to be threatening. Daniel stared down at him, unimpressed.

"If you think you can take them, go ahead and try," he said coldly, before shouldering past him into the room. The guard wisely decided not to, and waited behind them. The change in light was instant, as they stepped into a darkened office. Daniel spotted the two hidden defense turrets quickly, and marked their location for later knowledge. A chair sat behind a polished wooden desk, facing the window where it looked out on the Wards. _This guy's seen too many mob movies, _Daniel thought. The chair swiveled slowly to face them, where Dan was faced with a rather ugly man with some facial scarring.

"So, you've got some information, do you?" Fist asked, eying Dan and Tali equally curiously. His gaze stopped abnormally long on Tali though, and Dan narrowed his eyes at the crime boss. Fist returned the gaze, but soon shirked from its ruthless intensity.

"Yes, we do." Tali said, stepping up beside Dan. "Evidence linking Saren to the geth attack on the human colony of Eden Prime." she told Fist. The criminal's eyes obviously widened.

"Well, that's worth quite a deal of money." he said casually, twirling a cigar. Dan had to refrain from laughing aloud._ Is this guy serious? _"I'll tell you what, give it to me, and I'll deliver it to the Shadow Broker. He'll reward you greatly for it." Dan smelled the trap already. Should he let this continue?

"No deal. We need to meet the Shadow Broker in person if you want the data. In exchange, we need protection from Saren's assassins. Deal?" Tali prompted. Daniel observed a sudden grin on the face of the scarred criminal, but it quickly vanished.

"You've got yourself a deal. Give me just a moment." Fist excused himself, walking into a back room. Daniel assumed he was contacting Saren and his men to let them know about the 'meeting'. A very short while later, he reemerged, with a Cheshire grin on his face.

"Alright, I've set up the meeting. There's a back alley not too far from here, the two of you are to come alone. Here's the location." he passed over a data pad, which Dan quickly took and scanned. The same back alley as in the game, with a map and directions on how to get there were what was on the small reader.

"This sounds...acceptable." Tali said, after Dan passed her the data pad. Fist nodded, the grin never leaving his face. Daniel couldn't help but stare at Fist knowingly. The bastard was happily setting this young woman up for a trap, one that without interference from Shepard and his team or himself would certainly get her killed. "It's okay," Dan said finally, still looking at Fist darkly. Fist's eyes narrowed, as if he knew that Dan knew.

"Well then, he'll see you soon. As for me, I've got work to finish. You're going to have to leave." he motioned them towards the door. "Try not to get yourselves shot on the way there, okay?" he said wittily, as the door shut behind Dan and Tali. The former Ranger quickened his pace, hastening his way out of the establishment. Tali had to nearly jog to keep up.

"Why are we moving so quickly?" she asked, walking beside him.

"Because I don't trust that guy, he's lying about something," Dan replied, eyes flicking from one being to another, watching for a tail.

"I got the same feeling from him, but are you sure?" Tali asked nervously. Daniel nodded swiftly.

"I'd say our best bet would be to take this to the human embassy up on the Presidium. They've got the clout to deal with this, and the security to keep you safe. Sound good to you?" His eyes locked with the bouncer standing casually next to the main door, which they approached rapidly.

"Fine with me, it's a rather good idea. We'd best hurry if your instincts are right though." Tali said, as they stepped out of the main door and exited the bar.

Little did they know that a so-called 'patron' had been observing them. He raised a hand to the headset he wore.

"The target's suspect. Advise you eliminate them very soon, they're planning on heading for the embassy." he said, watching as the pair left the building.

"Understood. Hit teams are being dispatched now, good job."

**A few minutes later…**

Dan saw the moment they'd picked up a tail. He cursed under his breath, and Tali turned to look at him strangely.

"What?" she asked. He subtly nodded his head back towards their followers.

"They're after us already. I thought we'd have a bit more time, but it looks like our luck's run out," as he sped up, so Tali was forced to follow suite. The people around him looked at him angrily as he elbowed his way through the crowds, but a shout from the tailing hitmen forced Dan's hand.

"Come on!" he shouted, breaking into a full-out sprint. Tali followed, and the two raced down the corridor. Gunfire sounded, and a round chipped some paint off a nearby wall. Bystanders screamed in panic, and the crowds surged away from the source, past Tali and Dan. The Ranger suddenly stopped and turned, dropping to his knee as his hands found the ACR. A flick of the activation switch, and the balanced rifle unfolded in his trained hands. One controlled squeeze of the trigger later and three bullets screamed downrange in a three-round burst, taking out the lead gunman, whose kinetic barriers were unable to stop all three rounds. He smiled; the rifle was as good as ever. Dan rose up again, and sprinted after Tali, who had reached the elevator leading to the Wards Access corridor.

They bolted into the elevator amidst more gunshots, which cracked the elevator's glass. Dan flipped the ACR's fire mode lever to full-auto, and poured some suppressing fire downrange. The two pressed their backs against their respective sides of the elevator until the door slid shut and they felt the gentle ascension. Dan sighed in relief, leaning against the elevator wall. He looked over to Tali.

"Chances are they've got a team waiting for us on the other end, and they'll be after us as soon as the elevator returns. We'll probably get pinned down. If I tell you to do something, you're going to have to do it, "he said, his former combat experience coming back to him in a surge. He checked the ACR. It was indeed an incredible blend of the new and old; Tom had apparently rebuilt the magazine into a heat sink, saving Dan any need to get accustomed to new positions or equipment. He checked his other weapons and saw that it was the same with the rest of his weapons. He made a mental note to congratulate Tom on the amazing job he'd done with these antiques.

The elevator soon slowed, and the two once again readied their weaponry, waiting for the door to slide open. They burst out in a flash, running down the corridor, past startled civilians, and more gunshots landed all around them. Dan risked a glimpse over his shoulder, and saw three armed men emerge from a door near where they had exited the elevator. He couldn't return fire—innocents were still blocking his range of view. He abhorred unnecessary violence, and accidentally shooting any clueless bystanders simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time constituted just that.

They rounded another corner, and made it to the Presidium level elevator. Dan smacked the button, and the door closed. He was glad Tali seemed to be in very good physical condition, it was much more complicated to escort an out of shape person than a fit one, as his past mission experience had proven. He replaced the ACR with his Barrett, struggling slightly with the heavy sniper rifle before getting it into a comfortable position. Tali seemed startled by the size of the gleaming chrome weapon, but didn't say a word.

"Longer ranges," Dan explained, checking the gun's status, "I can take them out quicker from range than if they get close. I was always a great sniper," he said, and he was about to go down memory lane before Tali caught the look in his eyes.

"No time for old memories, right now we've got to make sure we survive to make new ones," Tali reprimanded him, crossing her arms. He nodded sheepishly, raising the rifle to his shoulder and facing the door.

"Follow my lead," he instructed, as the doors slid open. Just as Dan had predicted, a squad of hitmen had gathered on the Presidium, and spotted them as soon as the elevator doors opened. Assault rifle fire began closing on their position, and Dan sighted the Barrett in on one of the thugs, his head coming into focus through the crosshairs. One pull of the trigger and ear-shattering bang later, and the head exploded like a ripe melon hit with a sledgehammer, drenching the other hitmen in blood and gore. The fire stopped momentarily as they stared in horror, but quickly remembered what their situation was and resumed the barrage.

Dan had taken the time to grab Tali and slide into cover behind a nearby bench. It wasn't much, but it was stopping the rounds...for now. He retrieved the ACR and started targeting the mercs, rounds hitting close enough to make them duck back into cover. He rode the recoil expertly even though his shoulder was a bit sore from firing the .50 standing up. One merc was stupid enough to stand up to try and retaliate, and took half a dozen rounds directly to the chest, tearing through his poor shielding and ripping past his armor.

The elevator nearby dinged, and another small squad stepped out of the elevator, weapons raised. Daniel swore under his breath, and ducked as supersonic projectiles passed over his head. He had to come up with something, fast. A peek over his cover revealed an all too familiar scene. The mercs had bunched up...just like he and his squad had gotten the terrorist insurgents to do in Afghanistan. A perfect way to take them out presented itself to Dan's mind...

He ducked back down, and slid the ACR back. The gun was soon replaced by the large and extremely bulky Cain. He checked the charge, reading a 78% on the display. Shrugging, he activated the weapon. Over three-quarters charge on the nuke launcher was more than enough to take out a group of mercs wearing crappy armor. He slid his hand into the grip, selected the 75% power option, and pressed down on the trigger, squeezing it against the back of the guard.

The effects were almost instant. Unlike the lower power settings that Tali had integrated from her modification of the weapon, the Cain began its charge-up sequence. A high-pitched whining noise filled the small courtyard, and light began gathering at the end of the barrel. A small klaxon began to blare, and warning lights flashed up and down the weapon that it was nearly fully spun up. Dan counted the seconds left in his head, and then rose up swiftly, aiming the Cain into the midst of the group. Weapons fire began to hit Dan, and his shields began steadily dropping. He couldn't resist the words that popped out of his mouth as he put on his best Cuban accent.

"Say hallo to my leetle friend!" he shouted.

Then, the Cain finished charging up, and the light flared to an intense level as one of the loudest reports Dan had ever heard sounded as the twenty-five gram slug was launched out at near relativistic speeds, hitting the ground near the mercs. An enormous explosion ensued, instantly incinerating most of the mercs as the infamous mushroom cloud rose into the air, and the entire deck shook underneath the force of the blast. A part of Daniel's mind idly speculated that someone could probably have felt that up in the Council Chambers.

The remaining mercs were thrown to the ground from the concussion wave. Slowly they got to their feet and stumbled around, blinded and deafened by the blast. Suddenly, gunfire erupted from a side passage and the guns for hire were mowed down quickly, brutally, and efficiently. Dan saw the telltale signs of these arrivals being professionals, and hoped to God that they were on his side as he saw a man get slammed by biotics into a wall hard enough to turn his insides to jelly.

From the smoke and flames, three figures emerged with assault and sniper rifles raised. The leading one in a dark armor with a blood-red stripe down the right arm lowered their menacing looking AR. Their helmet swung to face Dan and Tali.

"Who the hell are you?" it asked. Dan felt himself freeze. Commander Shepard had arrived.


	10. Chapter 9: Meetings

**A/N: Hello folks, Sarge here. Sorry about the incredibly long delay, but Endymion and I have had quite a bit on our own plates. Now, we realize that this kind of story is getting a little old hat, but we're dedicated to finishing it. So sit back, accept our apology, and get ready for more of our favorite quarian and Ranger.**

Dan froze. This was Commander Shepard..._the_ Commander Shepard. Pointing a gun at him or her didn't seem like a very smart idea, so he lowered the ACR, resting it in the nook of his shoulder.

"I'm Daniel White," he said, as the group of...five, it seemed, approached him. He could see Ashley Williams in the distinctive Phoenix armor, Kaidan Alenko standing off to the side warily, Wrex standing front and center, and Garrus staying back with a sniper rifle. Up until now he could have sworn he was dreaming. There was no doubting any of this now. He was really here. _Bury the feelings, soldier._ He told himself. _The time for deep thinking is later, for now; make sure you can secure your place in the team._

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Shepard said, and as their figure came clear from the smoke, Daniel easily spotted the feminine figure the armor only partially concealed. She wasn't particularly tall, in fact seemed slightly short, but her presence was like having a krogan standing in front of you. She had that kind of aura. _Okay, a female Shepard._ Daniel thought. _And a paragon...I think._ "I'm Commander Victoria Shepard, with the Systems Alliance." she turned away from Daniel, to look at Tali, who still held her shotgun nervously. "Are you the quarian Dr. Michel and Fist were talking about?" Shepard asked, tone of voice shifting subtly, to a comforting one. _She is a professional,_ Daniel thought.

"Yes." Tali said, slowly holstering her shotgun. "I'm Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, you can call me Tali." Shepard nodded, slipping her own rifle back onto its holster. Daniel kept an eye on both the exchange, and all nearby entries and exits.

"Hello, Tali." Shepard said courteously, extending a hand. Tali looked at it, slightly puzzled, before Daniel whispered to her.

"Just shake it." Tali awkwardly shook the Commander's hand, and Shepard turned her head to stare at Dan.

"Well Mr. White, who and what exactly are you?" Daniel's response never left his mouth. Who was he? _What should I say? Oh, hey Shepard, I'm a U.S. Army Ranger from the year 2010, who, coincidentally, knows all of the events that are going to happen in the next two and a half years. Yeahh, she'd believe that..._

"I'm-" his omni-tool flashed up, and he looked down, masking a look of surprise. _What the hell?_ On it was an ID, filled with data he'd never seen before. He looked back up to Shepard. "I'm First Lieutenant Daniel White, with the Alliance Intelligence Division." He watched as Kaidan and Ash snapped to attention, and leaned to Shepard's side. "At ease." Shepard's face was quizzical, to say the least.

"What's an Intel officer doing fieldwork for?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. Daniel could see a cautious look on Ash's face.

"This intel was a sensitive matter, and when we got the lead from some sources, we felt it was too good to pass up. I was ordered to keep Tali here safe." _Jesus H. Christ, I'm flying by the seat of my pants here. Did Tom set this up? Wait...with what I know of Tom...yeah, of course he did._ Shepard nodded, and raised her own omni-tool. He saw intelligent sky blue eyes behind the helmet scanning up and down a page of data, before she looked back up at him.

"It checks out. So spook, do you think that you and your charge would be willing to follow us to the embassy to present the data to our ambassador?" Dan risked a glimpse over towards Tali, who was looking at him in utter confusion.

"We would be," he confirmed, and saw a smile form on the commander's face. Just before she did something he never would have seen coming.

"Alright John, they're on the money!" she called out, and Dan spun around, looking for whoever it was in question.

"Glad to hear it Vicki." A familiar voice said from behind him, and Dan's brain nearly had a meltdown.

_Holy shit. There are two Shepards._

Dan turned back around in a flash, to be met with a man in the same set of armor, minus the helmet. A shortly cropped head of brown hair, slightly weathered features, and blue eyes were staring straight into his. _The default male Shepard,_ he thought. The man had what appeared to be the new age version of a large caliber sniper rifle on his back, with a battle rifle in his hands and two pistols on his waist. Daniel blinked rapidly, looking from one to another. The man barked a short, tense laugh.

"It's nice to meet you too. Now, let's get on with this."

As she and Daniel followed both Commander Shepards the rest of the way to the human embassy, Tali felt completely lost. Daniel was Alliance Intelligence? But he had popped out of a laptop, for Ancestor's sake! She wasn't 100% sure where he was from, but she had a worrying suspicion. The picture on the laptop he had let her keep had a man of the same name who looked exactly the same as Daniel. That couldn't be coincidence, which meant that Daniel was over 170 years old, and had traveled through time! _I need to get the complete story from him,_ she thought with resolve. As they were moving, Tali walked up closely alongside Daniel.

"What was all of that?" she whispered, keeping her voice low to avoid drawing the attention of their rescuers. Daniel glanced ahead; making sure no one was looking back at them.

"I have no idea." He confessed, glancing around. "I think Tom sent me a false ID." She nodded, but wasn't finished yet.

"Who are you, really?" she asked quietly, and she watched as he tensed. He seemed to be debating something, before he finally shook his head.

"I can't tell you, not here, not yet. If someone overhears it, they'll put me in the crazy house for the rest of my life." He hissed, glancing around again, quickly shutting up as he saw the female Shepard looking back at them curiously. Tali was determined to get at least one straight answer from him, however.

"Are you the man from the picture?" she asked lowly, as Shepard turned back. He grimaced, eyes squinted tightly shut for a long moment, before he finally nodded.. Tali felt something in the pit of her stomach drop, as a sudden wave of an emotion she couldn't explain rushed over her. Fear? Caution? Mistrust? She wasn't sure. This was...it was too much to try and understand, so her only option was to put it aside for the moment. She nodded slowly, as they headed up the stairs to the embassy.

Daniel slapped himself mentally. _Crap! What the hell am I going to do now? _With Tali's enlightenment of who he was, things could go a number of ways from here. And the majority of them weren't good. _What's the old saying again? There's always a plan, and it usually doesn't work. Yeah, that's the one._ He took another look around, listening to the discussion between the Shepards, Anderson, and Udina.

"Firefights in the Wards? An all out assault in Chora's Den? And for God's sake, an explosion that rattled windows in the Tower? What the hell have you been up to Commanders?" Udina raged, even as the woman kept a steady composure. She'd removed her helmet, and Daniel had finally seen her features. A face that held the perfect balance between sharp planes and soft features, brown hair that now fell to her back without a helmet, and a small scar running underneath her left eye. And an aura of determination and feistiness that told you not to stand in her way. All in all, the woman would have been an excellent Ranger.

"Vicki did what you asked, didn't she?" John Shepard said flatly from the window, leaning over the balcony. Daniel focused on him. He was frowning slightly, and overall, he seemed a little grim. Slight bags were beneath his eyes, and he had the look of someone who had seen more in a year than most would see in a lifetime. And Daniel could tell by experience that he was troubled, in more ways than one. This man was a warrior with a haunted past. John Shepard lit up a cigarette with precision, before speaking again. "She has the evidence you want so badly." He nodded to Tali. Anderson turned to look at the quarian.

"I apologize for all of that. I'm Captain Anderson, you are?" the woman in question shifted slightly on her feet, obviously nervous.

"My name is Tali. And he's correct; I have evidence proving that Saren was behind the geth attack on your colony." All eyes turned to her, and Daniel gave her a reassuring look as she quickly pulled up her omni-tool and played the data.

"Eden Prime was a great victory. It has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

Daniel couldn't help the slight shiver that ran through him as he heard those chilling words, though the ones that came after chilled him further.

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers." He was moderately surprised that no one had interrupted the recording. _But then again, I can't expect everything here to be the exact same. _Daniel's thoughts ran wild, but his posture betrayed nothing. Hands clasped behind his back, eyes ahead, and feet shoulder width apart, he portrayed the very image of calm. _It's always surprising how 'hurry up and wait' actually comes in handy._

"So who is he?" Udina's voice interrupted Dan's thoughts.

"Alliance Intel." Victoria Shepard said, while Udina eyed him suspiciously.

"I was never informed that an agent would be coming to the Citadel…" he said, raising an eyebrow as the rest of the room's occupants began to look at him cautiously. Daniel was about to reply with something they would hopefully believe, when the door hissed open. And for once, he was genuinely thankful to hear the particular voice that spoke.

"That's because this was considered beyond top-secret. With every information broker in the galaxy searching for something juicy, sending communiqués wouldn't be such a grand idea, would it?" Tom spoke, stepping through the door. Daniel noticed an immediate change. The old man's friendly and kind aura was dissipated, now was one of utter focus and business-like manner. And the black uniform he wore was a pretty good clue as well. Anderson and the Alliance soldiers snapped to attention, while Udina's eyes widened.

"Director Smith, what are you doing here?" he asked disbelievingly. _So that's his last name,_ Daniel thought. Tom walked with crisp and concise movements, coming to the desk and sitting in a chair before it. Tom's cane was nowhere to be seen, and he stood tall without it.

"For two reasons; first, to support Daniel's identity, as suspicion is so prevalent these days, and secondly," he turned to look at the Shepard siblings, "to re-assign him to your ground team." John raised an eyebrow, and looked at Dan.

"Yeah, and what's he qualified in?" Tom smirked at the same time as Daniel, even as the Ranger responded.

"Tracking, small arms, heavy weapons, vehicles, demolitions, advanced hand-to-hand, stealth operations, sniping, rappelling, amphibious and airborne assaults, and more."

"Okay, okay, I think that's good." The other Shepard said, shaking her head at the two. "John, I'd call that more than qualified. Welcome to the team." Daniel nodded, grinning faintly.

"Glad to be a part of it," he replied, and shook her outstretched hand.

"Um, Commander?" Tali said nervously. "I'd like to come along and help however I can." Vicki arched an eyebrow.

"Aren't you on your Pilgrimage?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes." Tali nodded vigorously. "And the point of our Pilgrimage is to show that we are willing to sacrifice things or the greater good. What would it say about me if I didn't help you in any way I could?" Daniel could see Shepard frowning slightly, so he stepped in to help.

"Ma'am, her tech skills are unrivaled, she is very well-trained with a shotgun, and I'm teaching her the art of sniping. She's also very good with anything to do with ships; the Normandy could really benefit having her onboard." Shepard looked at him strangely.

"How do you know about the Normandy?" Vicki asked. Tom chuckled lightly.

"My dear, in this career, it's his business to know things such as that." The Shepard sister's frown eased, and she nodded.

"Alright. Glad to have you aboard, Tali," she said, sticking her hand out to the quarian as well.

"Thank you Commander, I won't let you down." Tali shook Shepard's hand.

"And one thing, Lieutenant." She turned to look at the Ranger.

"Yes?" he asked, watching her expression.

"Call me ma'am again, and I'll boot your ass from here to Saturn. I'm not that old." She grumbled, shaking her head as she walked away. Daniel could easily see a smirk forming on Ashley's face, and Alenko coughed into his fist to hide his expression.

"Understood, Commander."

"Damn…" was Daniel's only expression when he saw the Normandy for the first time outside of a television screen.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" he nodded. It was so majestic, shining in its berth, gleaming as brightly as a diamond. The entire ship was sleek, predator-like; something that you knew was like an eagle- beautiful, yet utterly lethal at the same time._ What a hell of a way to kick off getting thrown into this universe,_ Dan thought. He turned to Shepard.

"Well Spectre, congratulations on your promotion. Same to you too, Spectre." He said, looking at each Shepard in turn.

"Don't remind us." John groaned. "I can't talk for my sister here, but I don't like having my face plastered all over the Citadel and God only knows where else." Vicki elbowed him in the side of his armor, just barely jolting him.

"Piss off, you know I like it just about as much as you do." She cocked her head thoughtfully. "Though it does mean we'll cut through a hell of a lot more red tape than usual." John made an agreeing noise, as they both approached the stealth frigate's docking arm. Udina and Anderson looked up from their conversation, a tired expression on Anderson's face.

"Commanders, we've solved the problem of finding you a ship. Captain Anderson is stepping down from his command of the Normandy." Vicki's expression was a startled one, as she whirled to look at Anderson. John looked on in mild surprise, hanging back.

"Captain, the Normandy is yours. We can't take her from you." Vicki protested, and John nodded. Anderson sighed.

"She's quick, quiet, and you know the crew. Perfect for a Spectre. John, Vicki, we both know what Saren is capable of. If stopping him means that I have to step down from my command, then I'll do it without hesitation. It's your time now, you two." He said firmly, and Vicki nodded slightly.

"I…we'll catch that bastard, Captain." She responded, and Anderson inclined his head.

"I know you will. Now, we've got a few leads…"

Daniel turned away from the conversation, looking at the Normandy again. She seemed lightly armed. He couldn't locate anything other than a small barrel beneath the cockpit, most likely a mass accelerator cannon. But there had to be disruptor torpedo launchers, and maybe a few point defense guns. _I just hope the stealth systems are all that they're cracked up to be._ He sensed someone coming up alongside him, and turned to see Tali leaning on the railing, staring at the frigate.

"Keelah, that's…" she shook her head.

"Yeah, I know." Daniel said wryly, shaking his as well. "And remember, this is the first time I've ever seen a spaceship." Tali looked at him again.

"That's…it's still hard to believe that you're from-" he shook his head suddenly, and she nodded. "Right, sorry."

"It's alright." He sighed, resting more weight on the railing. "It's pretty confusing for me, too." The two remained silent, until John Shepard stepped between them, looking down and flicking a cigarette over the side.

"We're pulling out now, if you two lovebirds feel like coming." He said, before leaving. Dan felt some heat rush to his cheeks, and from the way Tali had turned away awkwardly, it was obvious she had a similar feeling. _Really? I can survive in one of the worst combat zones in the world, but when it comes to women, I'm as awkward as the next guy._

"I guess we should get aboard." He said, stepping away from the edge. Tali nodded, and followed, still blushing profusely._ Keelah, that was embarrassing, _she thought. _I mean, he's human, I'm a quarian, and even if we felt like…that, it wouldn't work._ She shook her head as she stepped into the airlock with John and Daniel, waiting patiently as it began its decontamination cycle. When she stepped out onto the bridge, she hesitated for a brief moment. Humans were everywhere, at their stations working diligently. Talking echoed across the room, and the sounds of the equipment kept the noise level of the room at a din. A number of crew looked up from their posts to stare at her, and she suddenly felt nervous as an older man holding a datapad gave her a mistrusting look. She stuck close to Dan, who was following Shepard.

"Well, I tend to let Vicki handle all of the politics and issues, so she'll be the one who gives most of the orders. Standard battlefield doctrine with us goes out the window; we usually take two squads and figure it out on the go. This is Deck 1, Deck 2 is the crew's accommodations, the med bay, mess, and a couple of other things, and deck 3 is Engineering and the cargo bay." The trio walked down the stairs, marines on guard saluting the Spectre, who returned it lazily.

"So where do we bunk?" Dan asked the other man. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, John pointed to two doors on either side of the stairs.

"Crew bunks are back through there, with restrooms, a small exercise room, a food synthesizer, and a few simulators. The Normandy's not a big ship, but her crew isn't full to capacity, so there should be enough space for a few extra people. If either of you need me, you can usually find me either in the cargo bay or in the crew quarters. Vicki has the captain's quarters, which are right around the corner. I'll see you both around." He dismissed himself, heading back up the stairs. Tali and Dan looked at each other, and the human shrugged.

"I don't know about you, but I'm tired. I'm going to hit the rack." He told her. She nodded.

"I'm going to take a look at Engineering; this ship is a technological marvel. I guess I'll talk to you later, Daniel." She said, turning to head for the elevator.

"Tali!" he called, and she looked over her shoulder.

"It's just Dan." He said, smiling lightly. She returned it and nodded, before entering the elevator. He turned to the door, and headed through, entering a narrow corridor that reminded him a lot of a submarine's. He spotted a number of curtains on the walls, with two name plates attached to most. _Hot-bunking, _he remembered. Eventually he came to one that had no plate, and climbed in, not even bothering to take off his armor. _What a hell of a day…_ sleep claimed him quickly, as the Normandy pulled out of its berth, and rocketed towards the Relay.

**A/N: Sarge here again, I know this chapter was short, but we wanted to get something out, to let you all know that we're still working on this. Thanks for all your support, Keelah Se'lai!**


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